How do I make my iPod Classic louder?

October 18, 2007 5:23 AM

Is there any way that I can make the maximum volume of my UK iPod Classic louder?

Apologies for such a boring question, I'm sure it also comes up all the time. I've searched Google with no returns - just a bunch of other people asking the same question. Ok here it is:

1. Firstly, before people mention damaging hearing etc - you should listen to one of these things. When I'm walking down the street - a passing car almost completely drowns out the music. When the street is busy, I may as well not bother having it on.

2. I'm using Sennheiser HD200 closed back headphones, so they already do a pretty good job of drowning out the outside noise. I also use these because I'm sick of being on the bus/train and hearing other people's standard iPod headphones playing me their music just as loud as it's playing it to them.

3. I've tried increasing the volume across all the tracks on my iTunes playlist but it took ages just to do three albums. I have an 80gb iPod!

4. I've set the volume limiter on the iPod itself to it's loudest.

5. I've tried GoPod which isn't compatible, and iPodVolumeBooster which doesn't seem to do anything.

6. I've 'upgraded' from a Creative Zen Xtra which was perfectly loud enough with the exact same headphones.

posted by stackhaus23 to technology (13 comments total)

Did 3 work for you? In which case, you can set the volume in an mp3 non-destructively... try MP3Gain.

Doesn't seem like much of an answer, though... I'd buy a headphone amp.
posted by Leon at 5:26 AM on October 18, 2007

Reagrding 3, you know you can select all your songs at once and increase the volume under "Get Info." Shouldn't take veryb long to do in one fell swoop.
posted by Brittanie at 6:11 AM on October 18, 2007

The HD200's, if I recall correctly, need a fair amount of power to drive them. You might consider a headphone amplifier. There's a wide range, including stuff like the Boostaroo, homemade project amplifiers, etc., etc.
posted by box at 6:24 AM on October 18, 2007

I found that when I bought my iPod remote (the official one with the farcically long cable), that I could use that to turn the volume up louder than I could with the iPod alone. I don't know for sure whether it was just my imagination, but it really did seem significantly louder when on full-blast.
posted by minifig at 6:30 AM on October 18, 2007

You definitely need a headphone amp. Consult the ancient scrolls of amp knowledge over at Head-Fi.org.
posted by tracert at 7:46 AM on October 18, 2007

It needs to be GoPod. The Euro iPods have a volume limiter to protect French ears, but it can be unlocked in Firmware. The difference between doing this and ALL the other solutions is night and day, because you're essentially taking off the limit on the in-built amp.

But GoPod doesn't work. And my iPod Classic is too quiet as well. So we need to persuade its author to have a look. Maybe money will help...
posted by bonaldi at 9:41 AM on October 18, 2007

Option 3 was the problem, I selected all the songs in Get Info (I have a lot of songs) and tried to adjust the volume on all of them. It chugged through three albums and I just gave up because I was going to be there all night.

I was thinking of getting an iPod remote which could be worth investigating. The thing is, and the reason why I also don't really want to get a headphone amp is that my headphone lead is three metres long. It makes it slightly awkward having something like that on a cable and then tucking it back into your pocket in a long roll.

However, it might be just the way. Or GoPod! We can keep our fingers crossed.
posted by stackhaus23 at 10:43 AM on October 18, 2007

Not to mention I just paid £160 ($320) for an iPod, I hardly want to spend another wad of cash on a Headphone amp ;)
posted by stackhaus23 at 10:46 AM on October 18, 2007

The real issue here is that you're using headphones that are designed for the power output of a stereo system, not a portable device.

Get different headphones or a headphone amp.
posted by YoungAmerican at 12:26 PM on October 18, 2007

I've found that using either a) noise cancelling headphones (expensive, I know but worth it) or b) the kind that go in your ear and are kind of squishy will block out a lot of the outside noise, which seems to be the problem, rather than raw volume. I switch back and forth between some old sennheisers, which are great but simple, and some new Phillips squishy ones (that i never wear at the gym, because I'm afraid I'll like, sweat and ruin the squishy bits or something) and I always have to turn the volume WAY down when I put in the squshy ones because I forget there's such a difference.

Barring that, I suggest turning the iPod up to 11. It's one louder.
posted by indiebass at 1:08 PM on October 18, 2007

nthing headphone amplifier or alternate headphones.

The iPod Classics are actually very loud in my book. I have a 160GB Classic and it's the loudest MP3 player I've ever owned. With the included iPod headphones, the loudest volume is clearly dangerous and unlistenable. I keep my iPod volume at 50-60% if I use those. However, it seems that the OEM iPod headphones are intentionally designed to be louder - I'm not sure if they're lower impedance or what.

Other earbuds I've used are considerably more quiet on the iPod than the included 'phones, but max volume would still be much, much too loud.

It sounds like those HD200s need more oopmh to drive them. It's like trying to drive a home theater system from the iPod's internal amplifier. Not gonna happen (satisfactorily) - and you could damage the iPod's amplifier.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:30 AM on October 19, 2007

sprocket87, do you have a UK/Euro iPod? No? Then stop teasing us with your "very loud" US one.
posted by bonaldi at 9:54 AM on October 19, 2007

*smacks head and retracts all previous statements*

So sorry. Didn't notice those two letters in the OP, and even if I had I didn't know there was a difference. But sorry, didn't mean to salt any wounds!
posted by sprocket87 at 12:21 PM on October 19, 2007