Having trouble setting up the volume on my ipod...

Question

when i put on the sound check on on my pod it really knocks the volume way down, and i find if i boost the volume to my music tracks in my itunes settings {even with sound check off} that a certain percentage of my volume control {roughly the last ten percent} on the slider doesn't work... its as if itunes is trying to keep all my music at the same volume even with sound check switched off, even after i have manually boosted the volume on my music... is it me? is there a way round this? ideally i just want to boost the volume on my music and have it all play out at roughly the same volume, but it doesn't quite seem to work... any help would be much appreciated???

Answer 1

if i boost the volume to my music tracks in my itunes settings {even with sound check off} that a certain percentage of my volume control {roughly the last ten percent} on the slider doesn't work..
Correct, using that method all you do is make it so that the maximum volume on the iPod is reached before the volume bar is at full.
For example, if you increase a track's volume in iTunes by +100% then when it's on the iPod you will find that that track hits it's maximum volume level at about half volume, and turning the iPod up to full volume will not increase the volume any higher after this point. A track which has not had it's volume altered in iTunes will reach exactly the same sound level, although of course you will need to turn the volume level of the iPod to full in this instance.
All iPods manufactured for the European market have a volume cap applied to them. It's a European directive from those nice people in Brussels who make sure we can't damage our delicate little ears.
If you have an older iPod you can use goPod to remove the cap on iPods that have this volume limitation. That should make your iPod maximum volume louder.
The soundcheck option will lower the volume on your iPod somewhat in order to level out the volume of different songs. There are 3rd party programs that do this more effectively (at least in my opinion).
For Windows there is mp3/aacGain.