iPhone audio quality seems to be lower than Mac

[thinhpham]

Hi,

I've been listening to iTunes music and Youtube video on both Mac (OS X El Capitan) and iPhone 5 (iOS 9.2) with the same pair of headphones and found out that the audio on iPhone seems to be more quieter and less clear than on the Mac (I listened to the same songs and video clips). On the Mac, they sound quite loud with 50% of system volume, while on iPhone, I must boost the volume to 70% or even 80% to have similar loudness. I know both iTunes and Youtube {via web browser) on Mac have their own volume controls along with the system volume control, while the iPhone apps use the same control.

My question is: Is that normal or I've been experiencing any types of isssue?

Thanks,

 

[shftoptk]

I am no expert on the matter, but i'm pretty sure the iphone uses much smaller/cheaper components in the aux port simply because there isn't enough room to put bigger hardware in there like you could a mac. Your iphone's aux port doesn't have the beef to power your headphones like a mac could.

 

[chscag]

Also, a lot depends on the quality and input impedance of the headphones. Higher input impedance headphones require more power to drive them which sometimes results in lower sound on devices like an iPhone or iPod. I've switched around sets of headphones varying from 30 Ohms to 10 Ohms and there is a difference in sound level. The 10 Ohm headphones produced the loudest sound for the same volume level. The problem is that finding ear buds or even headphones of low impedance and good quality is not easy.