Q: I recently bought an iPod and, depending on what headphones I use, I am often disappointed with the volume capacity. I find the volume isn’t loud enough for my tastes even when I turn the iPod’s dial up to its maximum position. Is there anyway to increase the volume?
– Teanaroa
A: Yes there is, but before we discuss it, we’ll respectfully point you and other readers in the direction of our tutorial “Listen Safely: Your Ears and Your iPod.” Within it, we explain the serious danger of irreversible damage facing those who routinely listen to music at high volumes.
Please read it, and – if you feel it’s right for you to do – reconsider your habits.
Whether you still will prefer to listen at a high volume anyway, or if your headphones are simply not sensitive enough for the iPod to properly drive them, here’s your solution: a headphone amplifier.
Since volume is power, headphone amplifiers can increase the volume output of a portable device by ‘injecting’ additional power into the signal (i.e.
“amplifying” it). Often, such devices are used to simply increase the clarity of the audio by altogether bypassing a portable device’s cheaper, lower quality amplifier, but they often serve to also increase the maximum potential volume. If you’d like to try this out, a good place to start research and buying decisions is at HeadRoom, or the HeadFi Forums.
