iPhone Equaliser with AutoEq Headphone Correction

Layer 1: headphone correction

Headphone correction removes your model’s own colouring, so everything else sounds as intended. It is the biggest single improvement for most people.

Discata has 8,849 correction profiles from the open AutoEq project. Search by headphone model and pick yours. Discata remembers your choice for each output.

In the app: Sound › Headphones

Layer 2: tone

Use a 10-band graphic EQ for quick changes, or a parametric EQ with up to 32 bands. In the parametric EQ you drag points on the curve and hear the change as you make it. Nine one-tap sound styles give you a place to start: Balanced, Reference, Bass, Treble, Immersive, Speakers, Vocals, Chill and Orbit. All of them stay adjustable. Each preset comes with a short description in plain words, so you know what it does before you pick it.

In the app: Sound › Tone › edit a profile (drag the points on the graph)

The Tone screen with a response curve and a list of presets: Reference, More bass, More detail, Clearer voices and Quiet listening. — Tone presets, each explained in plain words.

The Tone editor with numbered points on a response curve, and an Auto level switch. — Drag a point and hear the change as you make it.

Layer 3: level and comparison

It keeps the loudness the same when you change the EQ, so a boost does not just sound “better” for being louder. Use Level only to fine-tune.

Choose a style or a room, then flip Sound On / Original while the song plays. Both play at the same loudness, so you judge the sound, not the volume.

EQ in plain words

Six regions of the sound, from the guide built into the app.

Region	Range	What it does
Sub-bass	20–60 Hz	Felt more than heard: the rumble of a kick drum or synth bass. Too much makes headphones strain and distort.
Bass	60–250 Hz	Warmth and punch. A lift around 60–100 Hz adds weight; lifting 150–250 Hz quickly sounds boomy.
Low mids	250–500 Hz	The “mud” and “boxy” region. A small cut of 1–3 dB here often makes music clearer than any boost elsewhere.
Mids	500 Hz–2 kHz	The body of voices, guitars and piano. Cut too much and music sounds hollow.
Presence	2–5 kHz	Brings voices and snares forward. Our ears are most sensitive here: too much sounds harsh and tiring.
Treble and air	5–20 kHz	Detail, cymbals and space. Harsh “s” sounds (sibilance) live around 5–8 kHz; the “air” above 10 kHz is subtle.

Cut before you boost

Removing a little of what is too much is cleaner than adding more of everything else. Move in small steps of 1–3 dB, use wide bands (low Q) for tone and narrow ones only to fix a single problem.

When it sounds wrong

Muddy or boomy

Turn on Clean bass, lower the room amount, or cut 250–400 Hz by 2 dB. A wrong headphone model can also add bass: check Sound › Headphones.

Harsh or tiring

Try the “Less harsh” preset, or cut 3–5 kHz by 2 dB. Loudness normalisation also helps with very loud masters.

AirPods and other headphones

Discata works with any headphones, including AirPods, for music played in Discata. It does not change the sound of other apps.

The listening guide goes through each setting in more detail.

An equaliser for iPhone, with correction for your headphones