> but I thought maybe some people might have insensitive hardware that needs higher power to create reasonable audio? Are folks just leaving their volume on the

> but I thought maybe some people might have insensitive hardware that needs higher power to create reasonable audio? Are folks just leaving their volume on the default 50% or 100% or whatever it is? A few reasons I can think of: * Less sensitive headphones (as you mentioned). A lot of fancier headphones have much higher impedance and need more power to drive. * People playing competitive games want to be able to hear quiet and farther away sounds like footsteps approaching. Then sounds like gunshots are dangerously loud. * Earbuds that seal poorly (think the original AirPods as opposed to the Pro version) make you turn up the volume in order to hear any bass (or shove them deeper into your ear canal if you want to listen at a more reasonable volume, which is also uncomfortable).