Turn it down - EU officials to cut volume on iPods and MP3 players (From The Northern Echo)

Turn it down - EU officials to cut volume on iPods and MP3 players

2:35pm Tuesday 15th December 2009 in

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MUSIC lovers beware Apple may soon be forced to turn down the maximum volume on its iPod by order of the EU.

Officials in Brussels claim the maximum volume of MP3 players is damaging to young (and old) ears.

Researchers believe more than 10-million people are risking permanent damage to their hearing by playing their tunes too loudly.

So the EU is drawing up new laws that will turn down the maximum sound output of all portable music players to 85 decibels (80 db). This, claims Brussels, is the equivalent of a busy street.

Audiophiles are up in arms.

The cut isn't as straightforward as it seems. A 10 db increase in sound makes the music ten times as loud so 90 db may be loud but 100 db would be ten times as loud. It holds, therefore, that a 15db reduction is a massive cut in music volume.

Apple has already voluntarily cut the maximum output of the iPod/iPhone to 100 db - now it may be forced to go much further.

Outside the EU the majority of portable music players can be cranked up to 120 db.

Tony Graziano, of Digital Europe, reckons an 85db max would make MP3 plauyers almost useless in an external environment.

He said: "It would not be appropriate because noise coming from traffic, car engines and so on would obliterate the sound."

Of course, as the sound limit is imposed by a player's firmware it won't be long before hacks appear on the internet that will uncork the full volume.

I found instructions for the iPod classic and the Sony A1000/HD3 in a couple of minutes.

The EU volume limit - what can you do?

* Make sure your player is set to over-ride the 85 db limit. The EU says manufacturers will be able to offer a way of disabling the volume limits, at least for the moment. Make sure you do this to your player.

* Look for a hack. All iPods are voluntarily restricted to 100 db but there are freeware programs available on the internet to de-restrict them.

Some players (such as the Sony HD/A 1000x series) are even easier to fix. Just hold a couple of buttons to enter the service menu and tweak a couple of settings.

* Buy some better earphones. Noise cancelling cans will keep distracting sounds out and boost your music. If you can afford them the Shure E2C inner-ear phones are the best you can get for a portable. Sadly, they cost nearly fifty quid and not everyone finds them comfortable.

* Put up with it. Do you really need to play your music so loud? Turning down the volume means you will be able to enjoy your favourite tracks well into your old age.