Far too much bass in HomePod: can it be reduced?

With pop/rock etc music, all I can hear is bass. I only play at 10 to 15 percent volume (there's a flat downstairs), and all of the higher frequencies and detail are lost in booming bottom end. One would like to hear the bass, yes, but other things as well?

My ears are not what they were, granted; but I can still hear higher frequencies through headphones, for instance. Orchestral music also sounds rather muffled, violins all but disappearing.

MacBook, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), 2017 512GB

Posted on Feb 10, 2018 8:04 AM

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Stuart Levine

Level 1

127 points

Posted on Feb 11, 2018 5:52 AM

A good question, and for now, the only way to adjust the EQ is to do so on the device that you use to stream music using AirPlay. For the Mac you could use the Equalizer on iTunes and on iOS, the Music app also has EQ settings in the app settings. You could choose "Bass Reducer". I tried asking Siri to reduce the bass when playing music directly on the HomePod, but Siri said it can't adjust that setting 😟

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124 replies

Feb 28, 2018 10:35 AM in response to AngelDelNorte

I have had my HomePod for 2.5 weeks. At first I seriously considered returning it due to the bass. But, either the device made self adjustments, or I simply acclimated to the level of bass, and now I am pleased with the sound. If the best sound possible is your priority, I am sure you can do better. But for me, using it with my Apple Music subscription is a huge plus. I hope Apple continues to develop user controls for a more customized sound.

Feb 10, 2018 11:02 AM in response to lkrupp

I have set the EQ to "Reduced Bass" on both Music on iOS, and iTunes on my iMac. These changes did not change the bass output on my HomePod.

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Feb 11, 2018 8:58 AM in response to SiHancox

The problem is that they are not comparable, all of the non-speaker functions of a HomePod are absent from the UE

jstotts

Level 1

4 points

Feb 12, 2018 8:26 PM in response to SiHancox

Check out RIVA. I have their Turbo S and it’s quite nice for balanced sound without the boom in a smaller space.

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Far too much bass in HomePod: can it be reduced?