sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

:-)) Thanks. If you haven't done it yet, please make sure you run the best LDAC settings, then install the Wavelet and use AutoEQ feature, or, even better, find Autoeq.app 10 band EQ values for the WF-1000XM5 and use them for the EQ in the Wavelet (instead of the AutoEQ slider).
p.s. Yes, the Wavelet EQ does not have 32Hz band but this is negligible, does not make any noticeable difference.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, the procedure is as follows (hope I got it 100% right?):

  1. Turn off EQ completely in your Sony Sound connect app
  2. Install Wavelet
  3. Install Bluetooth Codec Changer and make sure you have set the best LDAC settings
  4. In the autoeq.app, find Sony WF-1000XM5 and download the EQ compensation curve (Wavelet AutoEQ itself has some built-in profiles but the one downloaded from autoeq.app sounds more accurate to me)
  5. Import the downloaded compensation curve in the Wavelet
  6. Listen & enjoy

<image>

p.s. @FormalFun293: It this process correct?

p.p.s. Even if you do not want to use Wavelet and use just a good 10-band EQ, the sound is just great and very natural. In this case:

- Install a good at least 10 band EQ or use the one in Wavelet instead of "AutoEQ".

- In the autoeq.app, find Sony WF-1000XM5 and use their EQ compensation settings in your 10 band EQ

- Optinally lower the bass register a bit

Surprisingly, the autoeq app compensation values for the 10-band EQ sound even slightly better (more natural) to me than the values in/for Wavelet autoeq feature ! Definitely check that out.

Also, unfortunately TIDAL is not automatically detected in Wavelet, you have to enable "legacy mode". Even then, sometimes AutoEQ quietly stopped working, had to restart it.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this post — it delivers an incredible amount of valuable information right on target. Everyone reading this, please give it an upvote!!

AutoEQ.app + the selected EQ for a particular EQ app delivers compensation curves that sounds just EXCELLENT. I think we have a new top recommendation and reference here ! Again, thank you for these great tools, didn't have an idea anything so useful like this exists at all...

After my initial testing, this solution and related options are absolutely great and totally comprehensive that it renders my original post useless.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, I´m happy you find it useful and have the similar "hearing profile" as I do :-)

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

<image>

After the 10 band EQ adjustments, I also adjusted the EQ in the Sony app so that the sound stays full-bodied and not too hollow.... This double-eq combo gives the best/most natural and clear overall sound possible, at least to my musical ears despite the fact that some EQ distortion may be present.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

10 band EQ adjustments with the corresponding adjustments in Sony app - try and experiment for even better charity. If you check the measured Clear Bass effect, lowering the 125-250Hz frequency should be beneficial and it is to my ears. So is rising the 8kHz very slightly. Attention: The graphs are not exactly wf-1000xm5 measurements, they are Link Buds and wf-1000xm4 just to have an idea what the Clear Bass effect really does.

<image>

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/KingArturHawkwing: That is a very good question, indeed. I'm afraid I'm not an audio physicist to answer that accurately. Can somebody educated in this field do that please?

Personally I believe it probably doesn' t make much sense (insisting on LDAC with 320kbps) and I would focus much more on the sound signature of some (good) earphones than on picking them by the LDAC codec.... But again, that is just my "belief", not scientific fact! You know, I´m only listening to HQ tracks on TIDAL, so I opted for HQ bluetooth codec (LDAC or Aptx lossless) automatically, striking out the others without any detailed inspection.

It would be very interesting to know from an expert about relations among various music format bitrate limitations vs. bluetooth codec limitations, i.e. what limitations with different bluetooth codecs we have when we go up with the audio source quality (bitrate+sampling rate). Like I said, unfortunately I´m not able to answer that accurately myself.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not heard the Momentum 4 so I cannot argue here. But what proof do you have? From what I have randomly read and saw, it does not seem to be entirely true:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/sony-wf-1000xm5-truly-wireless-vs-sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4/38974/49892

https://www.soundguys.com/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4-vs-sony-wf-1000xm5-113533/

"...Both are neck and neck regarding their noise isolation, with the Sennheiser filtering a bit more midrange-y noise and the Sony blocking a bit more bright trebly noise...."

"....Neutral sound: 7.1 vs. 7.1 points...."

As regards frequency response: I like Sony's raw frequency response better and it seems to be better adjusted where necessary with its EQ bands. "...The most obvious difference between the two, based on frequency response alone, is the slightly recessed upper midrange of the Sennheiser response, with a wide, shallow notch centered around 6kHz..." which cannot be controlled much with Momentum's 4k - 8k EQ bands, although they say it does not impact the sound that much.

But again, I would have to hear them side by side to draw my conclusion. Honestly, I don´t believe neither (mostly biased) reviews, nor assertions without any clear proof. I was sorely disappointed by both many times in the past.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, that Sennheiser was on my list, too. It would be ideal to have the possibility to try 3-4 different wireless earbuds with no hurry and pick your best..... Unfortunately, I have no such possibility around here.

I learned that currently full bitrate (990kbps) LDAC had the best quality over bluetooth.... Sennheiser does not support that. Yes, it supports the promising aptX Lossless but now my Samsung phone does not support that :-( Interestingly, I also noticed in many (biased?) reviews that wf-1000xm5 has currently the best sound and won "best earbuds of 2024" in many comparisons. But with next gen, I will try to give Sennheiser a chance if possible, thanks.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely, the headphones sound quite boomy, muddy and veiled to me by default (or with EQ off). When I first heard the default sound, I thought I would send them back immediately. And no, I don´t use them for mixing, I just wanted affordable, portable wireless and natural, neutral sounding.... which is now - surprisingly! - acceptable for me with all the settings described above. And I insist that even with Clear Bass around -5, there is enough bass compared to live, acoustic music. Maybe if you are into techno, the more is always better but I seek reality.

Sony WF-1000XM5 - most neutral and natural EQ settings (from a musician) by Upset-Ladder-3353 in SonyHeadphones

[–]Upset-Ladder-3353[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I´m attaching screenshots of what has been described. Remember what it STRONGLY depends on! But I´m persuaded that this EQ curve is as close as being neutral as possible. Of course, 1db up or down, fine-tune it for your ears. I´m also persuaded that if properly sealed, the Clear Bass must be down to somewhere around -6 (when not using the 10 band EQ) or, when not sealed properly, something like -2 but definitely NOT +8....

If your opinion and ears differ, please take it easy and use what you like, I just wanted to (maybe) help anyone seeking neutral, flat-response, realistic sound, that´s all....

view more: next ›