4 ms·

Beyond the inefficient audio design of the headphones it feels like there should also be a better audio feedback so users are aware of how loud the sound is. Wh

Beyond the inefficient audio design of the headphones it feels like there should also be a better audio feedback so users are aware of how loud the sound is. Why can't the device read you back the volume level in words when you change the volume so you have an objective measure of how loud the volume is? The computer could say a number 1-10 based on the sound level. It makes sense that older devices wouldn't have this feature but a modern computer or phone should be able to do this without a custom app. On linux you could hack something together to speak the alsa volume level like amixer set Master 2+ && amixer get Master | grep dB | awk '{print $4}' | espeak -s 300 Do other people use something similar?

blunte 7y ago
Mobile phones already do this, rather annoyingly. I don't think it's going to help a kid for a device to play nanny. They'll reject the advice like they reject most other advice. Meanwhile, those of us with other devices (such as using a car's aux jack) have to suffer with annoying notices and delays in boosting the volume to 100%.
- taneq 7y ago
  We got headphones for the kids recently and they're deliberately volume-limited so that even at max volume the sound isn't too loud. It's probably just a resistor in series with the speaker coil, seems like a simple enough solution.
crazygringo 7y ago
But your volume level isn't your volume level. Your OS-level volume level is the maximum permitted level. The volume in your ears is that multiplied by the amplitude of what you're listening to. It frustrates me that when I listen to soft passages in classical music, I literally cannot turn the volume up loud enough to hear it because it won't go any higher. But then I hear a system beep and it leaves my ears ringing it's so loud. What I really wish is that dynamic volume equalization would be built in as an option to the OS itself. Then "maximum" might actually be something useful.
- markrages 7y ago
  > dynamic volume equalization The audio term is "compression". And it's unbelievable that it isn't a standard OS-level feature. It is not computationally expensive to implement.
  - MultusSalus 7y ago
    I think iOS has a compressed audio option under Music/eq.

blunte 7y ago

Mobile phones already do this, rather annoyingly. I don't think it's going to help a kid for a device to play nanny. They'll reject the advice like they reject most other advice. Meanwhile, those of us with other devices (such as using a car's aux jack) have to suffer with annoying notices and delays in boosting the volume to 100%.

taneq 7y ago
We got headphones for the kids recently and they're deliberately volume-limited so that even at max volume the sound isn't too loud. It's probably just a resistor in series with the speaker coil, seems like a simple enough solution.

crazygringo 7y ago

But your volume level isn't your volume level. Your OS-level volume level is the maximum permitted level. The volume in your ears is that multiplied by the amplitude of what you're listening to. It frustrates me that when I listen to soft passages in classical music, I literally cannot turn the volume up loud enough to hear it because it won't go any higher. But then I hear a system beep and it leaves my ears ringing it's so loud. What I really wish is that dynamic volume equalization would be built in as an option to the OS itself. Then "maximum" might actually be something useful.

markrages 7y ago
> dynamic volume equalization The audio term is "compression". And it's unbelievable that it isn't a standard OS-level feature. It is not computationally expensive to implement.
- MultusSalus 7y ago
  I think iOS has a compressed audio option under Music/eq.