Customize the sound of your AirPods on Mac
Use Headphone Accommodations to boost soft sounds and adjust the tone for your hearing needs.
Headphone Accommodations work with AirPods Pro 2 and Mac computers running macOS Sequoia or later. When you use your AirPods Pro 2 with other Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, they use the same Headphone Accommodations settings as the last iPhone, iPad, or Mac they were connected to.
Set up Headphone Accommodations on Mac
From the Apple menu , choose System Settings.
Click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Audio under Hearing.
Turn on Headphone Accommodations.
You can choose the types of audio content that are affected by your Headphone Accommodations settings in the “Apply with” section under Headphone Accommodations:
To apply Headphone Accommodations settings to phone calls, FaceTime calls, and any third-party video call apps, turn on Phone.
To apply Headphone Accommodations settings to music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, Siri, or voicemail, turn on Media.
You can optimize the audio quality of your AirPods Headphone Accommodations:
Adjust the tone and boost softer sounds
Headphone Accommodations has several settings you can adjust to optimize the audio you hear in your AirPods. To hear how these settings change the sound of your AirPods, you can play media from apps like Apple Music or Apple TV or click Play Sample to play a sample audio file. Make sure Media is selected when testing.
Adjust the overall tone
To adjust the overall tone of your audio, choose an option for the “Tune audio for” pop-up menu:
Balanced Tone provides a boost over a wide range of frequencies.
Vocal Range boosts middle frequencies to help hear human voices more clearly.
Brightness boosts high frequencies, so vocal sibilance like “ess” and “shh” sounds are emphasized.
Automatically boost softer sounds
Adjust the optimizations slider to change how much softer audio is automatically boosted in your AirPods: Slight, Moderate, or Strong.
Use Custom Audio Setup
With Custom Audio Setup, you listen to audio samples and choose which ones sound better to you. Then you can apply the custom settings suggested based on your choices.
Wear your headphones and connect them to your Mac. Make sure that you're in a quiet environment.
Click Custom Audio Setup under Headphone Accommodations.
Follow the instructions on your screen.
Do either of the following when you complete the test:
If your Mac recommends settings based on your choices, you can switch between Custom and Standard to compare the two settings. To apply the recommended settings based on your choices, select Custom, then click Continue.
If your Mac recommends the standard setting for your AirPods, click Done. No adjustments to the sound of your AirPods are made and Headphone Accommodations are turned off.
Customize Transparency mode
Transparency mode lets outside sound in so you can hear what's going on around you. With Headphone Accommodations, you can customize Transparency mode to fit your needs. To customize Transparency mode settings:
Put your AirPods in your ears and connect them to your Mac.
To hear how your customizations affect Transparency mode, turn on Transparency mode in your AirPods.
From the Apple menu , choose System Settings.
Click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Audio under Hearing.
Turn on Headphone Accommodations.
Under Headphone accommodations, turn Transparency Mode on.
You can then adjust the overall level of amplification of outside sounds, the left-right balance, the overall tone of outside sounds, and how much ambient noise is reduced. You can start from a milder setting by adjusting the Tone or Amplification slider. Then gradually change to the settings that are most helpful for hearing people’s voices or natural sound around you.
To make it easier to hear someone in a face-to-face conversation with your AirPods on in Transparency mode, turn on Conversation Boost. Conversation Boost focuses your AirPods on the person who's talking in front of you.
Learn more
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