Bluetooth volume steps

Off-Topic
1

I wasn’t sure where else to make this thread. I’m not big on bluetooth but I can’t ignore the benefits for active use, I have some cheap iems and headphones that I take on my runs or to the gym. I have a huge gripe that I can’t find widely discussed despite my best efforts to find information on it.

The volume steps are huge and I have yet to find a solution. I have no idea how this isn’t widely talked about regarding bluetooth. The volume is too quiet or too loud, that fine-tuned “just right” volume isn’t obtainable due to the large leaps in each step. I’m an iphone user, btw. I’ve looked for an app, an online solution, anything to give me more control of the volume, with no luck. Android appears to have some sort of fix but again, iphone.

Is this just a limitation of the tech right now or am I missing something? I have some Pandas coming in the near future and would like to be able to get them to my preferred volume when I start testing them out.

2

Sometimes it happens to me in iPhone with wired stuff, if you use the slider instead of the volume buttons then you can set a volume between two steps.

3

You can do that with wired stuff yes, and I always do because similar bluetooth the preset steps on the ihpone don’t quite get me where I want.

Bluetooth basically overrides the slider with its own system and doesn’t change volume outside of the presets. You can still use the slider but nothing changes in between steps, you just slide until the volume jumps again.

4

ah I didn’t know that as I don’t use bluetooth.

5


It just was a perfect moment.

Can’t say how big are the steps between loud and quiet, ear’s do balance it out at some degree.
Annoying at least and to loud is always bad.

Current Samsung phones has “13” steps of volume. Usually one step more or less, set’s volume to ok levels. How many with iphone in general?

6

There are 16 steps. It sounds like it should be plenty to play with, but as mentioned, once you get to the middle you reach a point where you hop between “not quite loud enough” and “ow” and everything after that is just absurdly loud.

It’s weird because that step changes from headphone to headphone, regarding where on the slider it’s located, but the effect is always the same. The steps sound relatively small all the way up to that point and then dives over the line to make your ears bleed.

7

I can’t help in the software side, but if you felt like upgrading ur hardware anyways it could help out. Using something like the Fiio iem wireless adapters with a bit harder to drive iems should give more volume range before the volume gets too loud. Idk if using a little dac/amp combo like the BTR5 or BTR3 or other similar options would work for your use cases. Those devices give you really small volume adjustments. You’d also have to pair them wired to an iem or headphone. The Blon-03 are cheap, warm and not fatiguing in my experience.