[pecotunkA]

so I just impulsively purchased these headphones, and I am a bit confused as before purchasing I read multiple sources showing/stating the B&O App had a 5-band adjustable EQ. but when I go to create a custom EQ all I am seeing is a circle with warm/bright/relaxed/energetic areas (no other tabs or areas, I tried swiping left and right). even Rtings stated with their Xbox version that there was a 5-band EQ in the App.

I am just using them via bluetooth (which I assume is how they need to connect to the iPad/app anyway) and don't have an Xbox.
are there any other Portal owners out there that can tell me if they know where the 5-band EQ is?
I created an account, updated the firmware and downloaded the App just now, so it should be fully functional.

or did they remove it with an App update? really weird how it's like a year or two later since they released it if they removed the 5-band EQ option. aren't they supposed to add features with updates?

 

[HipHopScribe]

I sold my Portals after getting my Maxwells, but I don't remember a 5-band EQ in the app, only the circle you described. So yeah, I would guess that they removed the EQ at some point in favor of that method to tune the sound, unless the EQ is really buried and I just never found it.

 

[pecotunkA]

I sold my Portals after getting my Maxwells, but I don't remember a 5-band EQ in the app, only the circle you described. So yeah, I would guess that they removed the EQ at some point in favor of that method to tune the sound, unless the EQ is really buried and I just never found it.

thanks for sharing this with me.
could you share the rough date (month/year) of your purchase? or roughly the last time you used them with the app?

it is odd I thought it may be a difference between the Xbox/PS versions (there are a few differences such as the PS version having about double the battery-life).
but the Xbox version was released in March 2021 and the updated PlayStation version a year later in 2022.
I am reading comments on another forum from 2 years ago mentioning “increase the 30hz by +1 in the App EQ” which indicates to me they were using the 5-band EQ with the Xbox version because the PS version wouldn’t have been released yet.

so I think all of this including Rtings info and multiple other reviews with screenshots of the App indicates there at least “was” a 5-band EQ option.

or maybe there are separate customisable EQ’s for the Xbox input as well. I can’t test this because I don’t have an Xbox.

 

[HipHopScribe]

thanks for sharing this with me.
could you share the rough date (month/year) of your purchase? or roughly the last time you used them with the app?

it is odd I thought it may be a difference between the Xbox/PS versions (there are a few differences such as the PS version having about double the battery-life).
but the Xbox version was released in March 2021 and the updated PlayStation version a year later in 2022.
I am reading comments on another forum from 2 years ago mentioning “increase the 30hz by +1 in the App EQ” which indicates to me they were using the 5-band EQ with the Xbox version because the PS version wouldn’t have been released yet.

so I think all of this including Rtings info and multiple other reviews with screenshots of the App indicates there at least “was” a 5-band EQ option.

or maybe there are separate customisable EQ’s for the Xbox input as well. I can’t test this because I don’t have an Xbox.

I bought them February 2022, sold them April 2023. I never actually used mine with an Xbox, I use them with my phone and with an Xbox dongle on PC. I really don't remember a 5-band EQ in the app, though I doubt I really touched the app much after setting them up. From what I remember, the circle you described was the way I had to adjust the sound

 

[pecotunkA]

I bought them February 2022, sold them April 2023. I never actually used mine with an Xbox, I use them with my phone and with an Xbox dongle on PC. I really don't remember a 5-band EQ in the app, though I doubt I really touched the app much after setting them up. From what I remember, the circle you described was the way I had to adjust the sound

ok thank you.
after my 3rd custom EQ I am getting used to how the circle works so it’s not a deal breaker, it’s just not what I was expecting.

.

for anyone else reading this thread here is my understanding of the circle EQ.
far right (3pm) is V-shaped.
far left (9am) is inverted V-shape (mids forward).
top is bright, bottom is warm as the labels say.

so personally my goal is I want slight bass emphasis + slightly warm overall sound but with clarity, and I am a little treble sensitive so typically enjoy a L-shaped curve.
so I put the small circle in the bottom right quadrant about 1/4 away from the centre and make minor adjustments. I ended up moving it up a tiny bit (towards bright) and a right tiny bit (towards energetic) because there wasn’t enough clarity and I am pretty happy.

you don't want the small circle anywhere in the left side of the circle unless you are going for a voice/mids focused EQ (e.g. listening to podcasts or using them for discord calls only etc).
small circled placed anywhere up and down on the vertical centre line would technically be considered "neutral" (on the vertical centre line: towards bright tells me it's going to increase centered in the lower treble, towards warm tells me it's going in increase centered in the lower mid's/upper bass - so basically the "filling in" in-between the V which would be focused on sub-bass and top-end), then movement straight to the right would head towards a V-shaped sound. on the right side of the circle, moving it closer to the end in the top right quadrant increases treble, moving it closer to the bottom right quadrant increases bass.
you can move it right to the edge at 4:30pm position and get awesome powerful deep bass but it ends up reducing the mids and highs too much in my opinion. upper bass stays controlled even at the extremes though so bass heads can rejoice.
I find closer to the centre of the circle keeps the EQ effect subtle and the sound is more high fidelity.

if you are still having trouble figuring out how each movement affects the entire sound, try create custom EQ's for a few extremes. e.g. put the small circle half way down from the centre straight towards warm - name this EQ "warm", put the small circle half way up from the centre towards bright - name this EQ "bright". do the same to the left and right for relaxed and energetic (you can call the EQ's "n shape" for relaxed and "v shape" for energetic).
then switch between these custom EQ's and listen, it should give you a good idea of what is going on.
you can do the same but all the way to the edge, but personally I find these as too extreme sounding and I would never put the small circle further than half way from the centre in any direction.