How to boost bass and set up the equalizer on Android
Short answer: open your player's equalizer, start from a preset, raise the two lowest bands by 2–4 dB for bass, and add the bass-boost slider gently. Below is what each band does and the settings that work for bass, vocals and podcasts.
By the numbers: a ten-band graphic equalizer normally follows the ten standard octave bands from 31.5 Hz to 16 kHz, each centred one octave (a doubling of frequency) above the last, so the two lowest bands cover bass that most phone speakers cannot reproduce but headphones can. Spotify levels every track to -14 LUFS, and a boost of a few dB on the bottom two bands is usually enough to hear the difference.
Set up your equalizer in 5 steps
- 1. Open the equalizer. On the now-playing screen tap the equalizer icon and switch it on. In Audify it's a 10-band EQ; some phones' built-in ones have 5 bands.
- 2. Start from a preset. Pick Bass Boost, Pop or Vocal — whatever's closest — and tweak from there. Starting from a preset beats dragging sliders from flat.
- 3. Raise the low bands for bass. Nudge 60 Hz and 230 Hz up 2–4 dB. Gentle moves sound musical; big ones sound boomy.
- 4. Add bass boost sparingly. The dedicated bass-boost slider is powerful. A little adds punch; too much makes small earbuds distort and rattle.
- 5. Save it and A/B test. Save your preset, then toggle the EQ off and on during a song you know well. If off sounds better, you've overdone it — pull back.
What each frequency band does
A 10-band equalizer splits sound from deep bass to airy treble. Here's what moving each region actually changes:
Starting points that work
For more bass
+3 dB at 60 Hz, +2 dB at 230 Hz, bass boost low. Punchy but still clean.
For clear vocals
+2 dB around 2–4 kHz, leave bass flat. Voices sit forward without harshness.
For podcasts
Cut below 125 Hz slightly, +2 dB at 3 kHz. Speech gets clearer, rumble drops away.
Common questions
How do I boost bass without distortion?
Raise the low bands (60 Hz and 230 Hz) by only 2–4 dB and add bass boost gradually. Large boosts overload small speakers and earbuds, causing muddy, distorted low end.
Is a 10-band equalizer better than 5-band?
A 10-band EQ gives finer control — you can lift bass punch without also raising sub-bass rumble, for example. Many phones' built-in equalizers only have 5 bands; Audify's has 10.
Does the equalizer work with Bluetooth headphones?
Yes — the in-app equalizer shapes the sound before it's sent over Bluetooth, so your presets apply to wireless earbuds and car stereos too.
Get the free 10-band equalizer
Audify Music Player · bass boost, virtualizer & reverb · 4.5★ on Google Play
Sources
“An octave higher is a doubling of the octave band frequency.”The Engineering ToolBox, Octave bands
- Equalizer audio effect, API reference — Android Developers
- Octave bands: frequency limits and centre frequencies — The Engineering ToolBox
- Loudness normalization — Spotify for Artists