Bluetooth sound on Nothing Phone 3a Pro feels changed and more processed – how to disable this?

nowhereman

I recently switched from my old phone to the Nothing Phone 3a Pro. Overall, I really like the device, but I noticed something strange with the sound on all my TWS headphones and Bluetooth receivers (like iFi Go Blu or Shanling UP6).

On the Nothing 3a Pro the sound became noticeably brighter and wider, with more sub-bass and emphasized treble. I get that Nothing probably tried to “enhance” the audio, and for some people this might be a good thing. But for me, it’s actually a problem — I’ve gone through many headphones and audio devices to find a balanced sound that I enjoy, and now everything suddenly sounds too bright and unnatural.

On other phones, I’ve seen similar DSP or sound enhancement systems, but they could always be disabled in the settings. On the Nothing Phone I couldn’t find any toggle or option to turn this off.

I tested carefully:

Same codec (LDAC, 990 kbps, 96 kHz).
Same headphones and receivers.
Compared to my other phones, the difference is obvious.
When using a USB DAC, the signal is clean PCM and sounds identical across phones — so the extra processing seems to only happen with Bluetooth.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Is there a way to disable this audio processing on the Nothing Phone 3a Pro?

Maybe Nothing could add an option in future updates to let users choose between “processed” and “pure” output?

Edit / Update:
It now seems clear that this is related to Dirac Audio, a processing technology that Nothing used on the 2a Plus (where it was optional under Enhanced audio). On the 3a Pro, the option is gone, and the processing appears to be always enabled for Bluetooth.

For most casual listeners this might go unnoticed, but for people who take sound seriously — audiophiles, or anyone using high-quality headphones and Bluetooth receivers — this completely changes the listening experience. Personally, all my headphones and BT devices now sound unnatural to me, and if I had known about this issue in advance, I honestly would not have bought the Nothing Phone 3a Pro.

If anyone else notices the same change in their Bluetooth sound, please comment here. The more reports, the higher the chance Nothing will bring back a toggle to disable this in future updates.

Pranav@

There is an option called “Enhanced audio” in sound & vibration settings,maybe try turning it off and check the output

nowhereman

Pranav@ I don’t have an “Enhanced audio” option in the sound & vibration settings on my Nothing Phone 3a Pro. I also can’t find it by searching through the settings.

Pranav@

Hmm ,But In my 2a plus it is visible

nowhereman

Pranav@ Yes, Dirac Audio is exactly that kind of sound enhancement technology. You’re lucky—you have the choice of whether to use it.

gabrielchantl

I got the same issue and I also raised to Nothing Support but it seems still not addressed.

nowhereman

gabrielchantl Well, at least I’m not the only one who noticed this! I want to write to support too.

gabrielchantl

nowhereman Can raise as a recommendation in the Feedback of phone settings. I usually get reply within 24hrs

nowhereman

I contacted Nothing support about the missing toggle for Dirac/Enhanced audio on the 3a Pro. Their reply:

At the moment, the Phone (3a Pro) does not include the option to manually toggle Dirac/Enhanced audio off, and the behavior you’re noticing is intentional. However, I’ve passed your feedback along to our product and software teams, as we know how important audio transparency and flexibility are, especially for those who use high-quality headphones, DACs, and higher bitrate codecs like LDAC.

We can’t confirm future update plans right now, but your request for a toggle to disable or adjust the processing has been noted and shared with the team.

I’m really disappointed. On Reddit people already complained about Dirac on earlier models and recommended disabling it — but on the 3a Pro the option is just gone, without telling users it’s always on.

If you also think this is an important issue, please comment — the more voices, the better chance to influence the developer.

michaelshaw_UflXq1cG22

Man it really sucks. I’ve come from a Samsung fold that had Dolby Atmos and immediately found the audio in headphones to be garbage jumped online and found this…..we absolutely need that feature back to turn off Direc

nowhereman

Temporary workaround to bypass Dirac processing on Nothing Phone (3a) Pro

I found a small workaround that actually works.

I installed RootlessJamesDSP, which runs through Shizuku. With developer options and USB debugging enabled, Shizuku gives direct access to the audio stream — this effectively bypasses the Dirac processing.

RootlessJamesDSP can also apply its own EQ or sound effects, but I’m keeping all of that off — I just use it to get a clean, unprocessed signal. And it works — I seem to have got clean sound! I tested and compared it with other phones, and the difference is noticeable.

The only downside is higher battery drain, so I only keep it running when listening to music.