No bass in your earbuds: 3 solutions

5 min read

No bass in your earbuds: 3 solutions

Your earbuds have little bass and weak low frequencies. In other words, they sound tinny. Eardopes is the Netherlands' earbud specialist, and we have 3 solutions to help you enjoy good sound with enough bass again.

In this article

What causes weak bass in earbuds?

Earbuds with weak bass. It's an age-old problem. But what causes it?

There are three causes of weak bass:

  1. Equalizer settings
  2. Fit
  3. Poor-quality earbuds

It's important to check these causes one by one: first 1, then 2 and then 3. Each cause also includes a direct link to the solution.

1. Equalizer settings

You may have an equalizer enabled on your phone or laptop without realizing it. The sound you hear then isn't how your earbuds normally sound.

💡 Jump straight to how to fix it.

In Spotify on your laptop, for example, you can adjust the different frequency bands (go to Settings > Equalizer, or the equivalent in your language):

Spotify equalizer

You can do this on your phone too. Open Spotify and go to Settings. Scroll down and choose "Equalizer" (or a translated label such as sound profile, mixer or pitch settings).

Spotify app equalizer

Spotify will take you to the Android equalizer settings. Your Android phone often has Dolby Atmos options. But the equalizer is well hidden in the Android settings too.

In Android, go to Settings > (Sound and vibration) > Dolby Atmos > Scenario-specific profile > Music > Custom > and there it is! You'll see the equalizer settings.

Android Dolby Atmos equalizer

In short: make sure your equalizer isn't set incorrectly.

📱 Some earbuds (such as Jabra, Samsung and others) also have an app where you can adjust the equalizer.

2. Less bass from a poor fit

Poor fit? Poor bass. Low frequencies are the first to suffer when your earbuds don't fit well and fail to seal your ears.

💡 Jump straight to how to fix it.

Earbud fit

🔬 Try this: pull your earbud out slightly, just a few millimeters. What happens to the sound? Exactly: you hear fewer low frequencies. So a poor fit without a complete seal in your ear means less bass.

Let's start with the second cause: poor-quality earbuds. Some earbuds simply have no bass. These are generally cheaper earbuds.

Did you know that audiophiles and dedicated music lovers don't like earbuds with too much bass? There should be a balance between sub-bass, bass, mids and highs. So lots of bass doesn't automatically make earbuds good. But we can say that earbuds with far too little bass (or too much bass) simply aren't good earbuds.

Are the earbuds themselves good, but still lacking bass? Then it always comes down to the same problem: they don't seal your ears properly, so the low frequencies don't come through well.

3. Poor-quality earbuds

The final possibility is that the earbuds are poor quality and don't reproduce bass or low frequencies.

💡 The solution is, of course, to buy good wireless earbuds or wired earbuds.

💸 However, this problem is rare these days. It's very easy for earbud manufacturers to add more bass. Cheap earbuds can easily have plenty of bass. The problem is that they simply boost the bass, usually through the earbuds' own software or firmware. The earbuds then reproduce more lows and fewer highs. It's much harder for a manufacturer to produce earbuds with a good balance between sub-bass, bass, mids and highs.

Above all, we love good sound. We won't sell earbuds that sound bad. It's that simple. Not even if we can buy them at a good price. So if you bought your earbuds from us, the problem is usually the equalizer settings or the fit. Or your taste may be different, and you prefer unusually heavy bass.

Earbuds from €50 (wireless and wired) should have a good balance across the full spectrum: highs, lows and mids. We don't sell earbuds that fall short of that.

Weak bass: here's the solution

The solution depends on the problem:

Adjust your equalizer settings for better bass

Make sure no settings, such as an equalizer or mixer, are affecting the sound on the phone or laptop connected to your earbuds. They can make your earbuds sound much worse.

How do you fix this? In Android, go to Settings > (Sound and vibration) > Dolby Atmos > Scenario-specific profile > Music > Custom > and there it is! You'll see the equalizer settings.

Android Dolby Atmos equalizer

You can get there through your phone's settings or through Spotify (Settings > Equalizer takes you to your phone's settings).

Spotify app equalizer

Using a laptop? Check its settings: Settings > System > Sound. (In Dutch: Instellingen > Systeem > Geluid.) You may find a sound setting there that lets you adjust individual frequency bands.

Do you use Spotify to play music on your laptop? It has an equalizer too. Make sure it's switched off. If it's on, you aren't hearing your earbuds' actual sound.

To adjust the equalizer in Spotify, go to Settings > (scroll down) > Equalizer.

Spotify equalizer

In short: make sure a setting on your phone or laptop isn't affecting the sound.

Improve your earbuds' fit

How do you fix a poor fit so you hear more low frequencies (bass)?

Make sure you use the right size ear tips. They should fit your ears exactly, without a "leak." A leak means you hear much less bass. By a leak, we mean that outside sound can enter your ears while you're wearing your earbuds because the ear tips don't seal properly.

How do you fix a poor fit? Make sure you use ear tips (always included) that seal your ears completely.

Included ear tips

We often find that these ear tips, usually made of silicone, don't fit. If that's the case, use a set of foam ear tips for your earbuds. These are made of memory foam rather than silicone.

These ear tips fit the shape of your ear canal perfectly. Squeeze them a little before putting them in your ears, and they'll slowly expand.

Foam ear tips
In short: a good fit makes a big difference to your bass.

Buy better earbuds

If you bought extremely cheap earbuds (some are simply junk), my advice is to buy better ones. Once you hear how good €50 earbuds can sound, it's a no-brainer. Take a look in our shop for the best earbuds at a good price.

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