On iPhone XR, Spotify sounds noticeably worse than Deezer and Apple Music, but not on iMac

[eagleton]

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

iPhone XR, iMac 2018, 

Operating System

iOS 14.7.1  MacOS 11.5.2

It's especially notable on piano music like Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert: The different music services sound comparably well on my iMac, but on my iPhone XR, Spotify sounds lifeless, especially compared to Deezer.

I use the official headphone DAC from Apple on my iPhone to connect via lightning, but the standard headphone jack on my iMac. Highest sound quality is set on Spotify and all other services.

Could this be an issue of amplification? My headphone is a Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro, 32 ohm. Sound is loud enough with Spotify, but not always with Apple, which sounds a lot darker on the iPhone, but not on the iMac.

I know it's complex, but I love Spotify's UI, and this is my last effort before I have to switch to Deezer.

Thanks!

[Alex]

Hey @eagleton,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

You can try changing the settings on the Equalizer. Look here to learn how.

You might also want to try out different sound settings on the iPhone itself, since different headphones can sound very different on some devices and media apps. Check out this guide by Apple on how to do that.

Hope this helps. Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have questions.