WH-1000XM3 EQ,
set from your Mac

Starting curves for the WH-1000XM3

Each row is a complete setting you can type in as it is. They're editorial starting points for a kind of listening, not measurements of the XM3, so treat them as a first draft for your own ears, music and fit.

The same values, and the ten-band versions for the WH-1000XM6, are in the preset library. Play two or three songs you know well, change one band at a time by one or two steps, and go back to 0 if you can't hear a difference.

What each XM3 band does

• Clear Bass: Sony's separate bass control, for the low end below the first band: kick drums, bass lines, rumble. It's usually the first slider to try if you want more or less bass.
• 400 Hz: warmth and body. Too much sounds muddy or boxy; too little sounds thin.
• 1 kHz: the middle of voices and most instruments. Small changes go a long way here.
• 2.5 kHz: clarity and presence. Raising it brings voices forward; too much makes music sound pushy or harsh.
• 6.3 kHz: edge and detail, including "s" sounds and cymbals. Lower it if sibilance bothers you.
• 16 kHz: air at the very top. Subtle on most music.

If something sounds too strong, try lowering it before raising everything else.

Set the XM3 equalizer on a Mac

1. Connect the XM3 to your Mac in System Settings → Bluetooth (see connect Sony headphones to a Mac) and open Open Sound Connect.
2. Press ⌘2 to open Sound. The Equalizer card shows the presets your XM3 reports, then the sliders: Clear Bass on the left and the five bands next to it.
3. To try one of Sony's presets, click it: the list includes Bright, Excited, Mellow, Relaxed, Vocal, Treble Boost, Bass Boost and Speech.
4. To enter a curve from the table, drag each slider, or click one and use the arrow keys to move it one step at a time. The change goes to the headphones when you let go.
5. If a fixed preset is selected, the card says editing switches to Manual: your first change moves the headphones to the Manual preset. Flatten sets every band back to 0.
6. Under My Curves, choose Save Current and give the curve a name. Click it later to apply it again.

Once you have a few, switch presets from the menu bar panel or the Headphones menu without opening the window.

On your phone, with Sony | Sound Connect

Sony's phone app (formerly Sony | Headphones Connect) has the same equalizer for the XM3: open it, choose your headphones, go to the equalizer and pick a preset or set the custom bands to the same values. Because the curve is saved in the headphones, what you set on one device is what you hear on the other. Do Sony EQ settings carry over to a Mac? explains what moves with the headphones and what doesn't.

XM3 notes: DSEE HX and the equalizer

The XM3's upscaler is DSEE HX, and Sony's Help Guide says it works only when the equalizer is off (and with SBC or AAC, which is what a Mac uses anyway). So on the XM3 you choose between the two:

• For an EQ curve: use any preset or your own; DSEE HX stays inactive.
• For DSEE HX: choose Off in the preset list, rather than a flat Manual curve, then turn DSEE on.

Scenes make the switch quick: one scene with the equalizer off and DSEE on for compressed streams, another with your curve, each a click in the menu bar or a ⌃⌘ number shortcut away. DSEE on a Mac has more on what it does.

For everything else your XM3 can do from the Mac, see the WH-1000XM3 page, or the equalizer feature page for how the equalizer differs across the 1000X models.