Atrium / Headphone EQ / HyperX / Cloud III Wireless

HyperX Cloud III Wireless EQ settings

Parametric EQ correction for the HyperX Cloud III Wireless, derived from measurements by Rtings. It moves the measured frequency response toward a neutral target.

How the Cloud III Wireless sounds before EQ

Measured against a neutral target, the Cloud III Wireless comes out mid-forward. The mids sit ahead of both ends, so vocals lead everything.

The air region, openness at the very top, sits about 5.4 dB behind neutral, so the very top closes in (measurements this high up vary between test rigs, so treat the exact number loosely). The presence region, vocal clarity and attack, sits about 2.2 dB behind neutral, so detail and clarity soften. The sub-bass region, rumble and the weight under kick drums, sits about 1.9 dB behind neutral, so kick drums lose their weight. The mids region, vocals and most instruments, sits about 1.4 dB forward of neutral, so vocals push ahead of the mix.

The deviations are moderate, topping out around 2.2 dB, which is clearly audible in a direct comparison. EQ makes a worthwhile difference.

These figures are read from the correction itself: whatever the EQ lifts, the headphone lacked, and whatever it cuts, the headphone had too much of. The target is the community's neutral reference, and how far above 10 kHz you can trust any measurement varies by rig. More mid-forward models.

The correction curve

1001k10k+80-8 full measured correction what Atrium applies

The solid line is the full measured correction (all 10 filters). The dashed line is what Atrium applies: the same shape at 65 percent strength, capped at 6 dB per band, so the headphone keeps its own character instead of being forced flat.

What the EQ fixes

The biggest moves in this correction, and what they do:

The preamp of -6.0 dB offsets the boosts so nothing clips at full volume.

Parametric EQ settings

Preamp: -6.0 dB (prevents clipping from the boosts below)

#TypeFrequencyGainQ
1Low shelf105 Hz+2.0 dB0.70
2Peaking1.28 kHz-3.7 dB0.23
3Peaking2.99 kHz+7.8 dB1.35
4Peaking274 Hz+3.3 dB0.93
5Peaking80 Hz-4.0 dB2.39
6High shelf1 kHz+6.0 dB0.70
7Peaking6.44 kHz-3.6 dB5.93
8Peaking35 Hz+0.7 dB3.30
9Peaking102 Hz-0.1 dB3.15
10Peaking680 Hz+0.4 dB5.05

This is the full measured correction in AutoEq format. It pastes straight into Equalizer APO or Peace on Windows, and into most parametric EQ apps.

How to use these settings

Manually: enter the preamp and each filter into any parametric EQ. On Windows that is usually Equalizer APO with the Peace interface. On a Mac, eqMac or SoundSource. Set the type, frequency, gain and Q exactly as listed.

With Atrium: pick your Cloud III Wireless in the app and it applies a tuned version of this correction: 65 percent strength with a 6 dB per-band cap, which fixes the rough spots without erasing what the headphone does well. Atrium also measures how you hear with a short listening test and layers your personal hearing profile on top. Two people with the same headphones do not hear the same sound. Headphone corrections are part of Signature Edition; the app itself is free.

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Cloud III Wireless vs other HyperX models

Bass and treble are each model's average distance from the neutral target in that range. Positive means more than neutral, negative means less.

ModelSignatureBass vs neutralTreble vs neutral
Cloud III Wireless (this page)mid-forward-1.0 dB-1.6 dB
Cloudbright+0.3 dB+1.6 dB
Cloud Alphanear-neutral-0.1 dB+0.0 dB
Cloud Alpha Snear-neutral+0.8 dB+0.1 dB
Cloud Alpha WirelessV-shaped+3.1 dB+2.1 dB

Headphones that sound similar

Closest matches across all 4,332 measured models, by distance between their deviation curves. Useful if you like how the Cloud III Wireless is tuned and want alternatives.

More HyperX EQ settings