iTunes radio odd volume bug.

[Stuey3D]

Dunno if this is an iOS 9 issue or if it's present on 8.4, however user created radio stations are much lower volume than just playing the songs normally through Apple music.

For example if I ask Siri to play songs by Megadeth the songs play at normal volume, however if I create a Megadeth radio station then the same songs from the same source (Apple Music) are a lot quieter like half volume quieter. This is the same no matter what output I use, headphones/speaker/Bluetooth/AirPlay.

It's also odd that if you start playing a song and then hit create radio station the source song will play at normal volume but the rest are then much quieter.

This does not affect Beats 1 as that's normal volume but it does affect the other Apple created stations on that list.

Not tested this on iTunes yet to see if it's a problem on that but just curious to see if others suffer the same issue.

I have already reported this to Apple and am waiting to hear back.

 

[Stuey3D]

Also one thing to bear in mind I am using a U.K. iPhone which is subject to a draconian non removable EU volume limit baked in (All Apple mobile products since iPod classic 6th gen have this) so it might not be a problem for the rest of the world.

I remember having an American iPhone 2G which was about double the volume of the UK iPhone 3G that replaced it.

The iPhone 6 is the quietest outputting iPhone I've ever had though and that's with all user controllable limits removed, thankfully I use a cheap Bluetooth adapter which is much louder and drives my Bose headphones much better than the iPhone itself does.

As stated in previous post the volume issue on the radio stations is present no matter what output I use though.

 

[Stuey3D]

I can confirm the same issue is present on iTunes 12.2 so must be a bug with the radio.

Was playing the Metal station and a song came on that I liked so I added it to my library and when I played the same song from my library it was double the volume than it was playing at via the radio station.

 

[Stuey3D]

Further information related to this bug. I played the "metal" radio station on iTunes via Airplay to my surround sound system and used a sound level app on the iPhone to compare the differences in volume.

The song Motherload by Mastodon was my test song and when played via the radio station the iPhone reported around 67 - 70db, when I downloaded this to my music library and played it again it then registered between 77 - 82db so not only a lot louder but also appears to have more dynamic range, which is odd as I presume coming from Apple Music it would be the exact same file.

Come on guys surely I'm not the only one to notice this, its not as if its only slightly quieter. This bug is enough to stop me using the radio mode of Apple Music which is a shame as its a great way to discover new music.

 

[mpfuchs]

I've noticed this behavior ever since iTunes Radio was released.
Radio stations play lower volume than regular Music.
I'm in the US btw.

 

[Stuey3D]

If its been going on that long I wonder why they haven't sorted it yet, its a big issue and not just a minor volume difference.

 

[cale508]

For me sometimes, if I skip a song, volume goes down a lot. I have to press pause and play again and it will resume playing at volume it was originally set. This is playing thru Bluetooth. It's very annoying to have to press pause and play to get back to the volume.

 

[bigcstyle4]

It's been like this since it launched with iOS 7 and has always been annoying. I'm in the U.S.

 

[QuarterSwede]

iOS 9 definitely has volume bugs. I haven't pinned down when it happens to mine but every once in a while the volume is halved while showing full volume.

 

[Stuey3D]

I'm just amazed they would leave such a glaring volume bug in the radio section since iOS7. Its enough to stop me using the radio section as the iPhone isn't really that loud anyway so loosing loads of volume makes it almost unlistenable.