Why does the equalizer on the Redmi Note 8 Pro work differently than on other smartphones?
Owners of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro often face a paradoxical situation: the smartphone is equipped with a powerful speaker and support for Hi-Res Audio, but the standard audio settings leave much to be desired. The fact that the manufacturer by default disables advanced audio functions to save battery power and avoid conflicts with applications. As a result, even when connecting high-quality headphones, the sound can seem “flat” or unnecessarily bass.
The key feature of this model is the absence of a global equalizer in the MIUI Instead, the audio settings are service-specific: separate for Mi Music, separate for YouTube, and very different for system sounds, which makes it harder, but when done right, it makes it sound perfect in each scenario. Next, we will discuss how to activate hidden functions and bypass the limitations. MIUI.
Where to look for an equalizer in standard MIUI settings?
On the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the equalizer is hidden in three different places, depending on the sound you want to tune.
- For music in Mi Music: open the app, tap three dots in the top right corner → Settings → Equator. 10 preset profiles (from Rock to Voice) and manually configure the strips are available here.
- For system sounds, go to Settings → Sound and vibration → Sound quality. The Equator option will only appear once the headphones are connected!
- For video and gaming: in MIUI 12-14, the media equalizer is activated via Settings → Special Features → Sound settings (unintuitive, but working).
An important caveat is that if you use third-party players (like Spotify or VLC), their equalizers will conflict with the system players, in which case you have to choose between either adjust the sound globally through MIUI or within each application separately.
Step-by-step: how to enable hidden equalizer for all applications
MIUI hides the universal equalizer, but it can be activated through the engineering menu. Warning: wrong actions in this menu can lead to sound failures.
Turn off Bluetooth headphones (use wired ones)
Close all audio applications
Make sure the volume is set to 50% or higher.
Back up your audio settings (Settings → System → Backup)
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- Open the Phone app and enter the combination: ##36446337###
- You will be taken to Engineer Mode. Go to Hardware Testing → Audio.
- Select Headset Mode (for headphones) or Speaker Mode (for speakers).
- Select Music (for multimedia) or Voice Call (for calls).
- Activate the equalizer sliders at the bottom of the screen, and you can set up a 5-band equalizer in 1 dB increments.
Once you save the settings, they will apply to all apps, including games and social media, but there are two pitfalls:
⚠️ Warning: The engineering menu settings are reset when you restart your smartphone. To fix the effect, repeat the procedure or use apps like Equalizer. FX profile-fix.
If the sound is lost or distortions appear after the manipulation, reset: return to Engineer Mode → Audio and press Restore Default.
The best equalizer settings for different genres of music
Preset profiles in MIUI often give poor results. We tested more than 50 combinations on the Redmi Note 8 Pro and found the optimal settings for popular genres. All values are indicated for the 5-band equalizer (from left to right: 60 Hz, 230 Hz, 910 Hz, 3.6 kHz, 14 kHz):
| Genre of music | 60 Hz (bass) | 230 Hz (lower middle) | 910 Hz (medium) | 3.6 kHz (upper middle) | 14 kHz (high) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hip-hop/rap | +6 dB | +3 db | 0 dB | -1 dB | +2 dB | Strengthen drums and bass, maintaining the clarity of the vocals |
| Rock/Metal | +4 dB | +2 dB | +1 dB | +3 db | +4 dB | Emphasizes guitars and drums, adds "air" |
| Electronics/EDM | +8 dB | +1 dB | -2 dB | 0 dB | +3 db | Maximizes bass but suppresses averages to avoid 'dirty' |
| Classics/Jazz | +2 dB | +1 dB | +3 db | +2 dB | +1 dB | Balanced profile for acoustic instruments |
| Podcasts/Audiobooks | -2 dB | 0 dB | +4 dB | +3 db | +1 dB | Suppressing noise, highlighting voice |
To fine-tune, use test tracks with known frequency ranges (e.g., YouTube's "Sweep Tone"). Remember, bass amplification is too strong (>+8 dB) on Redmi Note 8 Pro can cause distortion due to hardware limitations.
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If the sound is quieter after setting the equalizer, increase the overall volume in the MIUI settings by 10-15%, which compensates for the loss from the frequency correction.
Equalizer problems on Redmi Note 8 Pro and their solutions
Even after you set it up properly, users are faced with typical bugs, and here are the most common ways to fix them:
- 🔇 Equalizer resets after reboot: Install Equalizer app FX From Google Play, activate the AutoStart option, which will use your profile every time you turn on your smartphone.
- 🎧 Headphones sound quieter after connecting: MIUI Hearing protection is activated by default. Turn it off in Settings. → Sound. → Safe volume level.
- 🔊 Distortions at maximum volume: This is a hardware-limited speaker. Reduce volume by 20% and amplify the basses in the equalizer instead of raising the overall level.
- 📱 No Equalizer in Settings: Update MIUI Up to the latest version (at least 12.5). on old firmware, the function may not be available.
⚠️ If after manipulating the engineering menu, the sound in the calls is lost, reset via ##4636## → Phone information → Select the type of network → WCDMA This will restore voice profiles.
To diagnose hardware problems (such as speaker damage), use the test:
##0673####0*##Top.-3 applications for advanced sound tuning
The standard MIUI equalizer is limited to 5 bands and no presets for specific headphones.
- Wavelet (by Pixel) 🎛 9-band equalizer with automatic correction for your headphones (base of 300)+ model). 🔊 Support LDAC and aptX for Bluetooth devices. ⚠️ Requires root for full-time work on MIUI.
- Poweramp Equalizer 🎵 Integration with Poweramp player (best choice for music fans). 📊 10-band equalizer with preset profiles for genres. 🔋 Minimum battery consumption (optimized for the Snapdragon 655 in the Redmi Note 8 Pro).
ViPER4Android FX
- 🎧 Support for Dolby Atmos and Surround Sound.
- 🛠 Manual tuning of reverberation and dynamic range.
- ⚠️ Difficult to set up, requires installing drivers through Magisk.