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I have an iPhone 4S and some V-Moda in-ear headphones. The headphones have great volume and isolation, which is good when I'm listening to something quiet. But it's a problem on my iPhone.

When I play music on my iPhone with the headphones, it is very loud. As in, painfully loud when I put the volume slider in the middle. To lower the volume, I (of course) dragged the volume slider to the left. The problem is that even when I get all the way to the left, it is still very loud. If I move it any further, the volume abruptly mutes.

I've tried changing settings, and I've found that enabling Sound Check helps some louder songs. Unfortunately, Sound Check doesn't apply to apps like Spotify, which I use more than the Music app.

So, how can I reduce the volume on my iPhone beyond the slider?

Notes: The volume is fine with the stock Apple headphones. Reducing the volume of the music itself (modifying the files) isn't an option because I need to reduce the volume of streaming audio and files I don't have access to (Spotify).

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7
  • Did you try the Volume Limit option?
    – Agos
    Commented Oct 15, 2011 at 18:19
  • 2
    It's not what you asked for, but you could use an in-line volume control or attenuator on your headphone cord.
    – Kevin Reid
    Commented Oct 15, 2011 at 18:43
  • @Agos Unfortunately, volume limit only lets you restrict the range of volume, out of the full range. It doesn't let you go any lower :(
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Commented Oct 15, 2011 at 19:33
  • @KevinReid Good point; I'm afraid this is what I'm going to have to do.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Commented Oct 15, 2011 at 19:33
  • WHen you limit the volume, i think it scales the range of the volume slider (for example, the slider all the way right is only 50% of the total possible volume). That way, it should allow more accurate increments.
    – Alexander
    Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 19:02

11 Answers 11

Reset to default
10

I had the same issue. I went into settings, music, EQ and adjusted the Loudness setting. It is now softer / not as loud sounding.

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1
  • This does not work for me, I checked all of the equalizer modes and I do not get it down to the very low volume that I need.
    – questionto42
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 12:29
7

I’m on iOS 12.1.2, iPhone X Can’t find Volume Limit in the Settings.

I have 3 Bluetooth sound bars, different models, and all three are way too loud on lowest volume (1). Going lower brings it to (0) and mutes them. Controlling the sound from the sound bars changes the iPhone volume, to same effect.

But I found a way to control the volume in fine increments between the 0 and 1 range.

On the iPhone Control Center, “3D” press (long press?) the volume control, which opens a bigger version of it, almost full screen. Now you have very fine control between the former steps. It,s like 100 volume substeps between “0/mute” and “1/loud”.

The “1” i reference is relative as there are no marks on that slider, and pressing the up/down volume buttons moves it to different levels actually, I.e going from 0 one up is not the same as going one down from 2.

In any event, using the touch screen you can finely adjust the volume on the big slider all the way down to barely audible. It’s clunky, still chances to blow your hearing, but it works.

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    This worked! Thank you! I believe this is the correct answer for anyone with this issue on any iPhone.
    – Xonatron
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 3:41
  • ⭐Yes, this should definitely be the accepted answer.⭐
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Sep 4, 2022 at 14:12
  • I tried it, this does not work on an iPhone 7 with iOS 15.6 in the iPhone Control Center that you get when you swipe up on the home screen. I cannot change the volume to less than a minimum even in the big screen of the volume control, and there is still some mm space to shift it lower, but it becomes 0 at once. And that minimum is still too loud in a calm room.
    – questionto42
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 10:50
  • @questionto42standswithUkraine, on the iPhone-8 at least, while the physical buttons still provide 16 discrete levels, the level in the thermometer display can be finely adjusted by gently sliding it up and down. Note that at the when at the swipe-up screen, you first have to touch and hold the volume icon, which will then expand to a full-screen volume control.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 12:51
  • @RayButterworth I can gently slide it up and down, yes, and we talk about the same display here. But there is no fine-tuning below the minimum volume. below around 10% of the thermometer display, you get just 0 all of a sudden.
    – questionto42
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 12:56
2

There's a plist you can edit to raise or reduce the amplification of the volume on a jailbroken device, however your question has the iphone-4s tag, so I'm assuming you're using a 4S, which means it won't be possible until a jailbreak is released for it.

iJailbreak has a tutorial of how to do this, but this should be easier:

  1. Download iFile from Cydia.
  2. Open iFile and keep pressing the back arrow until the title bar says /.
  3. Navigate to /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Celestial.framework (MobileToolbox.framework on iOS 5)
  4. Tap ReigonalVolumeLimits.plist, followed by Property List Viewer.

  5. Set every value on the right to one of the following:

    • 0,83 (default)
    • 25 (125% of the original volume)
    • 0,43 (43% of the original volume)

    (Don't use 1, as it is known to use more battery life.)

  6. Save your changes to the file.
  7. Either respring or reboot your device and the volume level will change.

You might not hear a difference through the phone's speaker, but you should when you use an external audio output.

If you don't want to jailbreak, you can also try playing music while changing the equalizer settings to one you like. I'm not sure if this has an effect on apps other than the stock ones, though.

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2

I found a few solutions to this using the Shortcuts app.

The simple approach:

  1. Create a new shortcut
  2. For Action, choose "Media" --> "Set Volume" (red loudspeaker icon)
  3. Setting the volume to 5% seems to make a big difference. Songs are a lot quieter but still audible. You can only do increments of 1%, however (no decimal values).

A more customizable approach:

  1. Create a new shortcut
  2. Add "Get Numbers from Input"
  3. Add "Set variable" which takes the number input and assigns it to a variable
  4. Add "Set Volume". Long-press on where it says "50%" and change it to use your variable.
  5. When you run it, you'll be prompted for the volume level. Use a decimal value, like .05 (which is equivalent to 5%). Entering anything 1.0 or higher will set the volume to 100%.

FYI you can also create a shortcut that gets the current volume (from Get Device Details) and speaks it. It will be a percentage expressed as a decimal (6% is .06).

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2
  • This is a great solution. Unfortunately, at least with my bluetooth earbuds, it seems that 1% is rendered the same same as 10%
    – Unrelated
    Commented Sep 8, 2022 at 18:53
  • I put this down to 2% (1% is the same as 0 on my setup), changed Spotify sound level to Quiet and pulled the equalizer in my headphone app all the way down. Each gave a little improvement but it’s still too loud.
    – Joooeey
    Commented May 27, 2023 at 21:44
1

Ok, so I finally have an answer of sorts! It's a hack, but... basically, you can create a custom EQ that simply lowers all frequencies by the same amount, which is the same as lowering the volume.

Step 1: Make your customer EQ in iTunes: Open up iTunes. Select Window > EQ. Then reduce the preamp volume (on the left hand side) to super low. If you want even more reduction, take each little slider, and reduce it real low, but make sure each one is reduced the exact same amount, or else you'll slightly alter the tone of the songs.

Step 2: Get that custom EQ onto your iPod!: Follow these instructions exactly from a different forum question: http://www.head-fi.org/t/399487/ipod-custom-eq-yes-it-can-be-done

Then when you want to reduce the volume of every song, just go (on your iPod) to Settings > EQ, and select your EQ setting! Boom!

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1

There's no easy way to do this by standard means of iOS (current fresh iOS v.9.3.1), without "jailbreaking" and intruding to the inner-workings of iOS.

Headsets with wire

If are using headsets with wire, then we can blame higher/lower impedance difference in the headphones. High-impedance headsets would require higher signal levels to produce the same output level of low-impedance headphones.

The easiest solution you can do, would be to buy a volume attenuator, which would have a little dial on adapter itself for adjusting the level.

Bluetooth headset, wireless

But if you gotten Bluetooth headset, wireless, it works differently. Headset controls the volume level in "electronic-way", so it totally dependent on implementation of headsets and is dependent from manufacturer to manufacturer. The minimum volume would vary seriously depending on the model of BT-headset.

I might propose to go the same way, to buy external Bluetooth adapter, which will get analogue signal, convert it to digital over BT, and will have different settings for the volume range. I understand, that this approach is not easy to use and has its drawbacks, so I'd not recommend to go this way, unless you are really annoyed.

Theoretically, you may play a bit with EQ settings in your iPhone (Settings -> Music -> Playback section), this might soften a bit the sound, but it barely affects the minimum volume level, it will just create the different perception, a bit milder sound.

I'm not sure, if there are existing Apps for adjusting EQ + master volume control, I think no-one is using them on iPhone/iPod.

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1

If you set the volume to the lowest, then set the volume limit to the lowest possible, you will find the volume bar will be at maximum again. Just drag it all the way down and the volume will be much lower. HTH!

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0
0

I tried Volume master app ($0.99)

It says it increases the volume by 0.01dB - 0dB, 0.01dB, 0.02dB, etc while the default iPhone volume control goes from 0dB, 0.06dB, etc. I am not sure 0.01dB is low enough or it works with any app.

It feels a bit comfortable with 0.01dB even though I cannot tell the difference a lot between 0.06dB and 0.01dB.

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2
  • 1
    The app description says that it doesn't actually change the volume range, just splits it into smaller increments. See above, that won't help me :(
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Commented Sep 3, 2012 at 22:46
  • The link does not work anymore. I would suggest the Volume Control Pro iOS app available from Apple’s App Store to those open to an app-based solution. It is easy to use and (at this time) free.
    – Alper
    Commented Sep 5, 2022 at 2:43
0

I have active speakers without volume controls and stream via bluetooth. The only way I have found to reduce the minimum volume is to get the Denon Audio app (free), then purchase the in app equaliser (£1.49), set the eq to flat and reduce all frequencies. This can be saved as a custom setting.

I've tried the volume app and other EQs - they don't work.

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0

I tip a 4 pole jack volume splitter control, das does really the job without changing anything the volume control of the iPhone. If you do good the iPhone also limited at aproximately 80dB. They have 4 pole so iPhone remote can still used. You can verry low sound volume with these. Ofcourse you can use 3 pole volume control, but then you can not using the Apple remote.

Google on

Lindy 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Splitter Cable with Volume Control or Headphone Audio Jack Splitter With Separate Volume Controls or Dausen Smart Headphone Splitter or Green Connection White Headphone Splitter with Separate Volume Controls or Monoprice 107116 Headphone Splitter with Separate Volume Controls

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-2

There's a very simple solution for your problem.

Go to 'settings' > 'Music' > Volume Limit. There you can limit the maximum volume. How lower the maximum volume, how smaller the increased or decreased volume difference when you click on the volume rocker.

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4
  • As mentioned in the comments above, this isn't a solution. This changes the maximum volume, not the minimum. The problem I'm having is that the minimum volume is too loud, not the maximum.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Commented Jan 13, 2012 at 15:26
  • Didn't see it in the comments there. Sorry. But while limiting the maximum doesn't technically change the minimum, it does change the minimum volume you can set in practice since the volume difference between two volume settings is smaller. I had the same problem as you and by setting the volume limit extremely low my problem was solved.
    – user16873
    Commented Jan 13, 2012 at 15:37
  • 1
    I've tried moving the volume slider all the way to the left and it is still loud. So, the problem is not adjusting the volume, but the lower limit if the volume level itself.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Commented Jan 13, 2012 at 15:45
  • I tried setting the Volume Limit to the lowest level possible. Unfortunately, as the other commentators reported, this didn't add any more graduations in the volume slider. All that happened is that somewhere around 3/4 of the way up the slider the volume went from too loud to off.
    – Jade
    Commented Apr 28, 2018 at 17:53

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