iPod volume...

[Ipoiiiiid]

Hi, I have had an iPod classic 5th gen (purchased in the USA) for a few years now, no problems with it, I recently got a new 7th gen (purchased in England) to replace it, hoping it would have better sound quality, and an overall improvement. But sweet Lincolns mullet, what's with the low max volume? It's so tame its almost pathetic, and the bass is massively reduced, I'm assuming all English purchased iPods are the same? Is there any way around this?
Thanks for any replies

[otaku]

Sorry to hear about the volume issues.
I upgraded from a 4G to a 7G and to my hearing the sound quality seems much improved.

Maybe try a more sensitive set of headphones? Pretty lame, I know.

[Ipoiiiiid]

I think max volume on this iPod is equal to around 75% on my old one, I'm not sure if the new ones have been restricted purposely? I'm using V-Moda crossfade-LP headphones, which pack a lot of bass when using my old iPod/iPhone 4s, but the new iPod is a lot different.

[Sparkee]

European models have a volume restriction by EU laws. I don't believe there is any work around for newer iPods, but I may be wrong since I do not follow EU issues. Your only option may be to invest in an external headphone amp with it's own volume control. A headphone amp could improve the sound quality as well depending on the headphones you use.

[Ipoiiiiid]

I see, thanks for the advice, I think in general the lower volume isn't too much of an issue, but if I was to use this iPod on a plane/train/anywhere noisy it would be a real struggle, but I guess that's what noise cancelling headphones/earphones are for. I'm just disappointed with the lack of bass.

[kornchild2002]

The lack of bass is an indication that the headphones you are using are bad or that the iPod is physically incapable of driving them. Seeing as how bass should be coming out of the iPod's headphone port at any volume (except 0), I'm guessing your headphones are the cause of that issue. Even at low volumes on my U.S. iPod, I can still get bass. RMA tests have also shown that the sound chip in the 2009 iPod classic is on par with the older sound chips and even a little better in some areas.

The volume limit on your iPod cannot be removed. A trick existed back in the day for older iPods but the iPod classic hasn't been fully hacked yet. That means that you cannot install custom/modified firmware on it. The iPod classic was first released in 2007 with two updates (one in 2008 and another in 2009). Its been 5 years since the iPod classic line was introduced and not much of anything has come out of hacking its firmware. People moved on to the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. Either way, don't hold your breath for a crack to remove the volume limit of your iPod. There are a few things you can do to get around the volume limit. One has already been suggested (headphone amp), you can also use a program (or iTunes) to increase the volume of your songs. MP3Gain is a good, Windows tool for this. Bump up the volume to ~102 dB and that should help things out a little bit. Just keep in mind that the songs will be louder when you play them back on your computer.

[Ipoiiiiid]

Thanks, I'll try that. The headphones aren't the issue, as they are high quality and sound great with iPhone/iPad, but this iPod just produces a lot less volume and bass than my iPhone, it's weird. I listen to mainly hip hip (lots of bass obviously) but also linkin park/blink 182 and dance/house, hip hop sounds a lot better coming from my iPhone. I use the beats by dre portable beatbox and this also produces more bass when used with iPhone.

[chrisjay]

Basic logic is that, upgrade version will have the improvments

[kornchild2002]

Originally Posted by Ipoiiiiid

Thanks, I'll try that. The headphones aren't the issue, as they are high quality and sound great with iPhone/iPad, but this iPod just produces a lot less volume and bass than my iPhone, it's weird.

The keyword being volume. Less bass is going to come out of the headphones if they are not being supplied with a signal that is loud enough. However, your statements were making it sound as if the headphones were producing less bass on a volume-to-volume comparison between your different iDevices. In other words, you set each iDevice to output at the same dB level (not the same on-screen volume level since they will be different) and the headphones don't have enough bass. To me, that indicates that the headphones aren't being properly driver. I have experienced the same issue across some of my devices but it can be the other way around. I have a pair of Sony headphones that are alright with my iPod classic but sound a little different when hooked up to my iPad. That is an indication of spotty headphone performance as the audible differences between an iPhone, iPod classic, and iPad are going to be negligent (RMA tests have backed this up).

Originally Posted by Ipoiiiiid

I use the beats by dre portable beatbox and this also produces more bass when used with iPhone.

I have that same system and can confirm that it all depends on how the system accesses audio. For example, if you use bluetooth, it is going to produce a (generally) more dynamically compressed sound than if you plug an iDevice directly into the dock connector. The device is working with a compressed bluetooth signal and its internal hardware dynamically compresses the audio signal so that the highs and lows are "bumped up" to hide this. It is a trick that many artists use, including Linkin Park and blink-182, to make the bass kick while having "killer" highs. The mids are pretty much dropped from the track all together.

[Sparkee]

I have a set of higher quality Alessandro MS2 headphones (Grado) which sound good with my iPod video but even at full volume are only mediocre with my iPhone 4 and, not much, but a little better with my iPad 3. Definitely not ear damaging volume levels which other headphones can achieve. Mostly the bass is there but the treble starts to over power it. The rest of my headphones including a set of Grado SR60i's plugged into the iPhone and iPad sound pretty much the same as they do with my 5G iPod and rarely go to full volume. Stick my Practical Devices XM5 headphone amp between the Alessandro's and the iPad and iPhone to feed it a little extra current and they sound better than anything plugged into my iPod. The XM5 is a little pricey but also has a bass boost which is also handy to tame the highs and mid range Grado/Alessandro headphones are famous for. I'm just plugging the amp into the headphone jacks, setting the volume on the idevice to about 80% and rarely find a need to turn the amp over 50%. The XM5 also has a treble boost, crossfeed (which can enhance bass a little too) as well as a couple of other settings for more sensitive or harder to drive headphones.

The XM5 is also customizable by changing the amp and buffer chips. I don't think I need to upgrade it's buffer's for the Alessandro's. But changing the stock amp chips, which were a little hot on the highs for me to and optional set they offered gave the XM5 more of a smooth tube amp bassy sound. Playing around with the XM5, the optional chips and different sets of headphone had a variety of results, most not drastic, but very noticeable to my ears.

I don't drag the Alessandro's and headphone amp around with me but they are my goto at home veg out to the tunes setup. On the move it's hard to hear any difference between any of my idevices with my portable Sennheiser PX 100-IIi, they are easily driven and theiremushy bass makes everything sound the same, but I still like them for portables.

Most of the time when changing headphones and amps the changes in audio quality can be minimal but once in a while with the right tune or setup there can be a drastic change. Sometimes the higher up in quality you go in headphones the more power or current they require to properly drive them. Point is, not all headphones are driven the same with all amps whether internal or external.

[AlTouch]

I've had an iPod since about 2006/7,, the 5th gen video, which by the way served me well all this time. Even back then when I bought it, I knew for this size of device that it would require a headphone made for this type of audio output although I had no idea of just what to buy. I was recommended a set of Koss Porta Pro which seemed to do the trick for me and I've had them ever since. Among the other headphones I had back then (and still have now) are Grado SR325i's, Koss R200, Koss TD80, Sennheisser HD280 Pro and a Technics headphone almost identical to the Koss TD80. All of them were NOT made for such small devices as an iPod. Even back then, being brand new to the iPod world, I knew they wouldn't be any good for them, so I made no real attempts to try to fool myself that they would be.. The Koss Porta Pro's are an "ok" headphone for the iPod, not perfect, but ok. They have beautiful bass for a small headphone but miss out on some higher range frequencies. Some people may even like this but I like all frequencies. The only real thing I don't like about them is the way they keep trying to fold up and get the leads all tangled up. It's like a birds nest of wires each time I get them out for use...

In the past 2 months I have updated many portable audio things, including... 1). New black160GB iPod Classic, which I thought were Gen 6 but see some people calling them Gen 7's... 2). iPod Touch 4 - neato... 3). Full size headphones that changed iPod listening forever for me - the Fanny Wang 3003. These have a built-in 5 watt amp, noise cnacelling and iPod volume control on the lead. Oh I wish you guys could hear what I hear with them on the stereo, the PC with a Rega headphone amp or any of the iPods. It's magic, pure magic...

The thing is, you shouldn't even really be trying to run full size haedphones on an iPod, directly, unless, like the Fanny Wang series, they have catered for them. The differences between an iPods output and these headphones' input requirements is too great for most of them to be effective. It appears though that there a quite a few pleasant sounding headphones just waiting for an iPod to bring them to life. I like the Porta Pros. I also bought another Porta Pro when I bought the FW 3003's. He gave them to me for half price...