Set up equalizer and sound on Xiaomi TV

Xiaomi’s current TVs, which are powered by Android TV or PatchWall, offer users a wide range of multimedia experiences. However, the standard factory audio stream settings do not always meet the expectations of demanding viewers or audiophiles. Often, users are faced with a situation where movie dialogue is drowned in the thunder of special effects, and the music sounds flat and emotionless, at which point there is a need for manual adjustment of the frequency spectrum through the built-in equalizer.

With a sound profile configuration, you can unlock the potential of an embedded speaker system or a connected soundbar. Mi TV and Mi Box owners have access to advanced signal processing tools, including presets for movies, sports and music. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how to find hidden menus, which sliders are responsible for what, and how to avoid the typical bugs that turn sound into noise porridge.

Before making any changes, it’s important to understand that audio codecs and how to decode them can vary depending on your TV model. Budget models may have equalizer band limits, whereas flagship versions support Dolby Audio and DTS surround sound technologies. The right approach to customization will allow you to enjoy content with a quality close to studio, without buying additional equipment.

Access to advanced audio settings in the MIUI TV interface

The first step to perfect sound is to navigate the system menu. MIUI for TV can be different from pure Android TV, so finding the right settings can sometimes be difficult for beginners. You need to go to the main menu and select the gear icon located at the top right of the screen. This will open the Settings section, where all system settings of the device are concentrated.

The list that opens up will show you the device configuration item, which, depending on the firmware version, can be called Sound, Display & Sound, or Device Settings. If you use voice control over the remote, you can just say "Sound settings," and the system will redirect you to the desired partition, which is especially useful if the remote is lost or its buttons are stuck.

Within the audio menu, look at the Sound Mode subsection. This is where the primary setting that activates or deactivates the user equalizer is hidden. By default, the TV is often in Standard or Auto mode, which limits the ability to manually intervene. To access the frequencies, you need to select User or Custom mode.

⚠️ Note: In some regions, Xiaomi TVs have European or global firmware installed, where the audio effects menu can be hidden. If you don't see the Equator, try changing the region in the system settings or updating the software to the latest version.

Once activated, direct frequency control becomes available, allowing you to adjust the timbre of the sound to adjust it to the acoustic features of your room, for example, in rooms with a lot of upholstered furniture, low frequencies can be absorbed, requiring their amplification, whereas in empty rooms with bare walls, on the contrary, you need to reduce the bass to avoid the hum.

Detailed equalizer frequency settings for different scenarios

Once you're in manual tuning mode, you'll see a graph or set of sliders, each corresponding to a specific frequency range. Understanding what each band is responsible for is key to sound quality. TV

• 🎵 Low frequencies (60Hz – 250Hz): Responsible for bass depth, drum beats and explosions. Excessive lifting of this slider can cause the wheezing of speakers, as the built-in acoustics of TVs are physically limited in the reproduction of deep sub-bass.
• 🗣️ Mid-frequency (500 Hz – 2 kHz): The most important range for human speech. If you can't hear the dialogue in movies, this is the area that needs to be raised a little bit.
• 🔔 High frequencies (4 kHz – 16 kHz): Responsible for detail, ringing and airiness of the sound. Adding air makes the music livelier, but overdoing it will lead to whistling and rapid fatigue of hearing.

For news or documentaries, the best solution is to create a profile that focuses on medium frequencies, which ensures maximum intelligibility of the speaker's speech, while listening to classical music or jazz, it is recommended to make the profile flatter, with easy lifting at high frequencies for instrument detail.

And don't forget to use Clear Voice, or Voice Clearing, if it's available in your model, and this algorithm artificially cuts out background noises and enhances the range of human speech, and using this feature in combination with manual equalizer tuning gives the best results for older people or hearing-impaired users.

Use of Presets and Technology Dolby Atmos

Xiaomi TVs with Dolby Audio technology and DTS Virtual:X has the advantage of ready-made audio processing algorithms, developed by recording engineers and often outperforming manual settings made by an untrained user.--

Activation of these modes occurs in the same menu where you selected the user equalizer.

Dolby Atmos creates a surround sound effect, simulating the presence of additional speakers over the viewer’s head, especially in scenes with flying planes or rain, but it is worth considering that for this technology to work, the original video content must also be encoded with Atmos support, for example, on Netflix or Disney+ services.

For gamers and sports enthusiasts, there are special modes such as "Sport" or "Game"; in sports mode, algorithms amplify the roar of the stands and comments of commentators, making the atmosphere of the stadium more tangible. The game mode, in turn, minimizes the delay of audio-video synchronization and emphasizes steps and shots, which gives a competitive advantage in shooters.

In older models, this sometimes leads to sound and image dissynchronization, and if you notice that the actors' lips don't match the voice, try turning off post-processing or switching to Direct.

Connecting external acoustics and setting output

Built-in speakers of TVs, even top-end Xiaomi models, have physical limitations in power and frequency range. To get a truly cinematic experience, it is recommended to connect an external speaker system. TV Optical Out (Optical Out) and port ARC/eARC through HDMI, This allows you to transmit high quality sound to receivers and soundbars.

When you connect a soundbar via HDMI ARC, the equalizer settings of the TV itself are often blocked, as the sound control goes to an external device, in which case you will need to adjust the equalizer already on the soundbar or use its proprietary application, which is the correct behavior of the system, preventing double signal processing.

If you use an optical cable, make sure that the TV's audio settings at Digital Output select PCM or Auto. Choosing the wrong format can result in sound only going in stereo or not going at all. Multi-channel audio through optics often requires switching to Dolby Digital mode.

⚠️ Note: When using Bluetooth headphones or speakers, the built-in equalizer of the TV can work with a delay. For wireless listening, it is better to use the equalizer settings in the player application itself or on the Bluetooth device.

Solving problems with silent or distorted sound

Users often experience a situation where, after updating the firmware or connecting a new device, the sound becomes unnaturally quiet or distorted, the first step is to check whether the volume limit feature is activated or the night mode that dynamically compresses the volume range so as not to disturb neighbors.

Sometimes the problem is not with the settings of the TV, but with the audio file or stream format. USB-Driver, make sure that the audio codec is supported by your version of Android TV. For complex formats, such as DTS-HD or TrueHD, the built-in player may not cope, and then third-party applications such as VLC or Kodi, which have their own equalizer settings.

If the sound is hoarse at maximum volume, this may indicate an overload of speakers, in which case it is recommended to reduce the total volume to 80-90% and compensate for the lack of volume by raising the frequencies in the equalizer, rather than the overall gain.

💡

Use the Mi Remote app or Google Home to calibrate the sound. Some models allow you to automatically calibrate the room correction through the remote microphone, analyzing the acoustics of the room.

Also worth checking is the settings of the particular app. Services like YouTube or IVi can have their own volume sliders inside the video player that work regardless of the system volume of the TV. Make sure the app is turned to maximum volume and adjustable by system buttons.

Resetting settings and returning to factory parameters

If the equalizer experiments have made the sound worse than it was originally, there are always two ways to go back to the factory settings: reset only the sound settings, or perform a full TV reset, the first option being preferred, since it does not affect the installed apps and accounts.

To reset your audio settings, go to Settings → Device → About TV → Reset (or similar path in your version of software) and select the option to reset your audio settings. In some versions of PatchWall, this feature is directly in the sound menu as a “Reset Equalizer” button.

Once reset, the TV will return to Standard mode, a good starting point for new experiments, and it is recommended to record good combinations of settings for different genres, so as not to waste time recalibrating in the future.

💡

Resetting your audio settings does not remove your apps and data, but returns all audio options, including the equalizer and channel balance, to factory status.