WH-1000XM3 can't change equaliser settings in high quality

[andrew_ashby]

Hi, I am new to the forum.  I have just bought the WH-1000XM3 and am impressed except for the 'out of control' bass response, chosen by someone at Sony as a suitable 'flat' frequency response for the headphones. I can only guess this has been done to create broad appeal, but it masks what can actually be a great performance, once the equalisation is fixed. Fortunately this can be adjusted in the Sony android app's equaliser, but bizarrely only in the 'Priority on Stable Connection' mode and not in 'Priority on Sound Quality' mode - which is the most likely choice for anyone who is interested in getting the best from them - and one of the features I bought them for.

Why is this feature disabled Sony peeps? It's a mystery and really not good that it can't be used in conjunction with the better quality codec options that are supported. When can/will this be fixed in a software update? Thanks.

P.S. I now see this is already an active discussion thread in the Soiny US community pages and on Reddit (screen capture below), so I'm not alone and imagine others here are also frustrated by this. Sony please advise on an update to fix this - thank you.

[andrew_ashby]

...has no-one else experienced this as an issue, or I have I missed something ?!

[GapsOfTheGod]

It's the same for everyone, and appears to be intentional from what I read a few weeks ago.

[The_Black_Rose]

Hi andrew_ashby ,

I believe this isn't an issue as this happens with everyone. I think this is how the application has been designed.

I hope Sony would be able to look into this and provide us with more features in the future.

Cheers,

The_Black_Rose

[andrew_ashby]

Thanks all - I hope so too the_black_rose.

If it helps anyone in the meantime - I have found a very good 10-band equalizer called 'RE Equalizer' that works well (including with Tidal streaming), so I have switched to high quality mode and am using that to correct the curve.

Cheers

[The_Black_Rose]

Hi andrew_ashby ,

That sounds amazing. Maybe I'd give this one a try later on. Thank you for sharing this with me.

Cheers,

The_Black_Rose

[ThoseCansHaveTooMuchBass]

We deserve some love from Sony on this. You can also try to second that request here for what it's worth:

https://us.community.sony.com/s/question/0D50B00004swlJuSAI/wh1000xm3-cant-change-settings-when-prio...

[FoxBoxX]

October 2019 and this still a problem - but it only seems to apply devices that use higher quality codecs such as Sony's own LDAC.  The Sony headphones app either lets you have low quality SBC codec (or AAC on an apple device) and change the EQ, or it lets you use a higher quality coec but not change the EQ. This is a terrible vjoice, and it's making me regret buying my Sony xm3s

[jbirkenhead]

Same issue here. Have had the headphones over a year and been frustrated by this crap piece of implementation. Think I've had enough and will sell them on and go over to sennheiser momentum. Had some of their in ears a couple of years ago and their sounstage blew these away so the over ears will hopefully give me what I'm after. Really really ,major fail with these headphones, sort it out. 

[HannahEd01]

Hi jbirkenhead, this option is not a fault more than a disliked setting by users. I recommend getting in touch with Sony directly to raise feedback. I've also seen other users suggesting third party apps as an alternative.