Why your high-end headphones sound underwhelming — and how to fix them

Why some wireless headphones don't sound best on iPhone

If you pair premium Android-friendly headphones with an iPhone, you aren't getting the full wireless audio quality you paid for.

High-end headphones feature advanced high-speed Bluetooth technology that can stream music at nearly triple the data rate of standard wireless. However, Apple iPhones do not support these advanced formats, forcing your iPhone to compress wireless playback down to a standard, lower-quality format.

Due to this Bluetooth bottleneck, the only way to unlock true high-resolution playback is to connect your headphones using a physical cable —though you'll need to check your specific model. Some support pure digital audio directly over a USB-C cable, while others require a standard 3.5mm audio cable paired with a small headphone adapter.

While plugging in a wire is inconvenient when you are out and about, it is a trade-off worth making: you can stick to standard Bluetooth for convenience while commuting, and save the cable for critical listening when you are relaxing at home.

Also, make sure to set your streaming app's audio quality to Lossless (such as in Settings, Music, and Audio Quality), ensuring your phone feeds the highest quality source file to your headphones.

How to fix flat sounding headphones

Before changing any software settings, check your physical fit and seal. If your earbud tips are too small or your over-ear cups aren't sealing tightly against your head, bass frequencies escape instantly, making your music sound thin and lifeless. Try different ear tip sizes or adjust the headband first.

If the fit is perfect but your favourite tracks still lack energy, you can easily reshape the sound using your headphone’s companion app (like Sony Sound Connect or Sennheiser Smart Control). Open the app's Equaliser (EQ) settings, which usually look like a row of frequency sliders.

When tweaking your settings, its best to avoid cranking sliders all the way to the maximum. This overloads the audio driver, which causes digital distortion and muddies the fine details. Make small adjustments at first. Instead of heavily boosting one slider, try slightly lowering the others to get the balance you want.

Test your music with ANC turned off

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) relies on external microphones and digital processing to cancel ambient noise. While ANC is essential for noisy commutes, that active signal processing can subtly compress certain audio frequencies and narrow the soundstage.

To test if ANC is degrading your mix in quiet environments, open your headphone app, navigate to Sound Control, and set ANC to off to hear how your headphones actually sound without any artificial tweaking getting in the way.