To clean up a voice recording in iOS 27, open it in Voice Memos, tap the More button, tap Options and turn on Studio Sound, then drag the slider to set the strength. Apple says Studio Sound “adjusts the levels of background sound and reverb in a Spatial Audio recording, so a recorded voice sounds more like it was recorded in a studio.”
That suits the recordings people actually make on a phone: a lecture in an echoey hall, an interview in a busy café, an idea dictated in the kitchen. The feature is new in Apple’s iOS 27 iPhone User Guide. The iOS 26 version of the same page doesn’t mention it.
Turn on Studio Sound
- Open Voice Memos. It’s in the Utilities folder unless you’ve moved it.
- Tap the recording, then tap the More button.
- Tap Options, then turn on Studio Sound.
- Drag the slider to increase or decrease the effect.
- Tap Done, then tap Play to hear the result.
Nothing is destroyed. Apple’s guide says changing playback options “doesn’t affect the recording itself.” The setting stays with that one recording and applies each time you play it, but it doesn’t carry over to your other memos.
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Why the switch might be missing
Apple is direct: “Studio Sound is available for Spatial Audio recordings only.” Mono and Stereo memos don’t get it.
Your recording format lives in Settings > Apps > Voice Memos > Recording Mode, with a choice of Mono, Stereo and Spatial Audio. Spatial Audio “isn’t available on all iPhone models,” Apple notes. On iPhones that support it, recordings made with the built-in microphone use Spatial Audio automatically, while earlier models record in Mono unless you switch to Stereo. If your iPhone offers Spatial Audio, make sure it’s selected before you record.
For those older Mono and Stereo recordings, the same Options menu offers Enhance Recording, which Apple says reduces “background noise and echo,” and Skip Silence, which skips over gaps during playback.
Music is handled differently on iPhone 18 Pro
Studio Sound doesn’t treat every sound as noise. Apple says it “also recognizes music instead of treating it as background sound,” with a condition: “For music to be properly isolated, the recording must have been made in Spatial Audio on iPhone 18 Pro models. On other iPhone models, music is reduced along with background sound.”
Record yourself singing over a guitar on an iPhone 18 Pro and Studio Sound can keep the guitar. Record the same take on another iPhone and the guitar is turned down with the room noise. Apple ties this to the phone that made the recording.
Cut noise while you record
Studio Sound works after the fact. Voice Memos can also filter sound as you capture it: with the app open, open Control Center, tap Voice Memos at the top, and select Voice Isolation to filter out background sounds. Wide Spectrum keeps them in, though Apple says it isn’t available on all iPhone models.
Undo everything at once
To hear a recording as it was captured, open it, tap the More button, tap Options, then tap Reset. Apple says that returns all of the recording’s playback options, Studio Sound included, to their original settings at the same time.
