# Increase song volume in iTunes vs. iPod **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817 "2005-03-03T22:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/1 "2005-03-03T22:50:14Z")
I want to hear a song on my iPod at a particular volume. Does it make a difference battery-wise between increasing the volume in iTunes (using get info\>options), and playing it at a lower volume on my iPod, and _not_ increasing the volume in iTunes, and increasing the volume on my iPod? The amp is putting out the same volume one way or the other, but there’s more of a boost in one case than the other. I can’t decide. Or, if I increase the volume of “my favorite song” 100% in iTunes, will the iPod use less power to play it at 25 db (or whatever) than it would if I simply cranked up the volume on the iPod to play it at the same 25 db? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/2 "2005-03-04T05:18:50Z")
Straight from one of the two Apple hardware engineers who invented the iPod: > [@](#): > > The actual volume it plays at controls the power usage. So it doesn’t matter how you set the intermediate steps. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/3 "2005-03-04T15:04:41Z")
Thanks, Walloon ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/4 "2005-03-04T15:54:46Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Straight from one of the two Apple hardware engineers who invented the iPod: > > > [@](#): > > > > The actual volume it plays at controls the power usage. So it doesn’t matter how you set the intermediate steps. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make more sense to increase the volume in iTunes as it might cause extra battery usage by adjusting the volume on the iPod (especially if the backlight/clicker is turned on and adjusting the volume activates those)? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/5 "2005-03-04T16:40:05Z")
No, output volume is all when it comes to power. Where the volume level is set on your iPod is not important — but how loud it actually _sounds_ is. Something that sounds loud on iPod will take more battery power than something quieter. It doesn’t matter where along the way the volume went up. If you jigger the volume controls on iTunes and your iPod so that something sounds very loud even though the volume level on your iPod is set just above silence, it takes just as much power as if the same volume level was achieved with the iPod dial as far up as it can go. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/6 "2005-03-04T17:06:26Z")
I think what stpauler might be getting at is that you use less power when you have all your song volumes arranged through file settings than you do when you manually adjust the song volumes using the iPod controls because using the controls on the iPod, powering the backlight, etc. uses power. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/7 "2005-03-04T17:06:59Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > No, output volume is all when it comes to power. Where the volume level is set on your iPod is not important — but how loud it actually _sounds_ is. Something that sounds loud on iPod will take more battery power than something quieter. It doesn’t matter where along the way the volume went up. If you jigger the volume controls on iTunes and your iPod so that something sounds very loud even though the volume level on your iPod is set just above silence, it takes just as much power as if the same volume level was achieved with the iPod dial as far up as it can go. So you’re saying that jiggering the volume on the iPod doesn’t effect battery usage with the backlights going on (or the clicker too) as much as the volume output? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/8 "2005-03-04T17:38:40Z")
**stpauler** : **Mack** was not talking about increasing the volume level manually, on the fly, with the iPod. He was talking about a semi-permanent change in the volume level of a particular song, done through using the info\>options setting on either iTunes or iPod (plugged into the computer). ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increase-song-volume-in-itunes-vs-ipod/292817/9 "2005-03-04T17:52:12Z")
😕 You can change the volume on the iPod when it’s connected to the computer? I’m trying on my 3g and it’s a no go. I can’t do anything on the iPod when it’s in “Do Not Disconnect” mode without going through iTunes.