Make your Fairbuds XL sound more ‘you’ with new StudioEQ preset

Originally published at: Own your Fairbuds XL sound with StudioEQ preset - Fairphone

It has been three months since we launched the Fairbuds XL and we couldn’t be prouder. It’s been heartwarming to see the positive responses to the first audio product that we’ve developed from scratch to ensure it truly embodies everything that we stand for! However, it’s still early days for us in the audio space, which is why all the feedback you have shared is extra important to us in making the Fairbuds XL even better.

One bit of feedback that we got over and over again was regarding the equalizer settings and how it would have been nice to have more control over them. Well, the wait is over; thanks to our new Studio EQ preset, you can now fully tune your Fairbuds XL exactly to your liking. For those of you who prefer sound-engineer approved presets, we still have our Signature EQ presets that you can switch through. Allow us to explain.

Through our experiments in the audio space, we quickly learned that making good headphones isn’t… well, easy. That’s why we started looking for experts to tie up with, to help us come up with a sustainable solution that also scored in every department, from design and engineering to acoustics and sound quality. One of the many partners we collaborated with is Sonarworks, an industry leader in audio techonology innovation. They are the people who help musicians like Lady Gaga, Madonna and Coldplay always sound amazing, no matter what device you are using. (We’re not kidding. Their tech is used across 140,000 studios globally.)

The people at Short Circuit thought our collab with Sonarworks was marketing fluff. Well, Adam, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We gave Sonarworks a bunch of our Fairbuds XLs and asked them to help us define how the Fairbuds would ultimately sound. Sonarworks had the added advantage of their own SoundID app, which gave them unique insights into user preferences across various headphone brands like Bose, Sony and B&O among others. This insight is what helped us craft our Signature EQ presets on the Fairbuds XL app. There are three tailormade presets inspired by the most popular headphone brands in addition to our bespoke ‘Amsterdam’ preset, unique to Fairphone. For those of you who have been asking for the Signature EQ preset frequency curves, here you go. Hopefully, this will help you really get the most out of your Fairbuds XL!

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			The Amsterdam EQ Preset on the Fairbuds XL
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			The Boston EQ Preset on the Fairbuds XL
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			The Tokyo EQ Preset on the Fairbuds XL
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Of course, we won’t pretend that these presets work for everyone. One size hardly ever fits all. And that was the same feedback we heard from our reviewers. Which is why we’re happy to announce a brand new, fully customisable Studio EQ preset. You can use this to access a five band equalizer that helps you make the Fairbud XL’s sound completely your own.

So how do you activate it? Get the latest Fairbuds XL app, now available on the App Store and Play Store. If you already have the app, make sure you have the latest version installed. The latest update contains a firmware update for your Fairbuds XL as well. This will help you get the most out of your newly upgraded Fairbuds XL. Happy listening!

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Hi everyone,

As @urs_lesse already noticed, this blog post was published a bit too early by accident and wasn’t supposed to show up here just yet. Please have some patience - we will be sharing the update by the end of this week!

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So it seems the App is out, therefore the topic is listed again

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aahh … that’s why i searched several times in the forum and didn’t find it … :wink: … another question: is there also a beta prgoram available? If yes, how can I attend? I’m in some of your beta programs and I would have time to test … :slight_smile:

Nice! The firmware adds what it states. Too bad nothing was improved for the ANC and ambient mode. In both modes you can easily hear wind. Even when just walking in a house, just that is enough to be bothered with wind noise. ANC mode is the most surprising one, with my Jabra Elite t75 I can even use ANC while cycling in a strong wind. I really hope Fairphone will address this wind sensitivity. And considering the issues with noise cancellation on the FP4, maybe it is time to hire an expert in that field :wink:

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There’s the Fairphone 4 beta program, but I haven’t heard anything of one for the FB XL.

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Yes, I know that, there I’m already in.

Would be nice if the app where adapted to Material You.

This new firmware seems quieter. I enjoy loud sound and I think I preferred the original. Is there a way to restore the original function.

Are there plans to open-source the app and the firmware ?

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There are problems with this firmware, it is quieter which is annoying as I like loud, and the personal EQ selected does not stick.

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I love that we got not just a 5 band equalizer but a 5 band sweepable equalizer.
A bug that you need to fix is that the headphones forgots how I like my sound, so I need to open the fairbuds XL app and trigger the EQ every time I have had the headphones powered off. It is logic to me that it works that way, but please solve it so the app is allways on in the background and automatically pushes the EQ setting to the headphones. (Even better would be if the had memory space to store my EQ settings, but don’t know if and how that works.)

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