# "Amazon fire 7 inch tablet" not loud enough when using headphones.(too quiet at full volume)



## fox64

When I use headphones the volume is not very loud , even at full volume.
This is a deal breaker because with tablets I olny use headphones.
I'm using koss headphones they work fine on everything else.

 I have the 50$ amazon 7 inch tablet. I made sure in the settings that the media volume is turned up 100%.
These same headphones work fine in my "uniden tablet",laptop and desktop.
When i turn up the amazon volume to 100% it sounds the same as 50% on the uniden tablet,just barely enough the here.
I was so shocked to find in the setting that media volume was already set to 100%.
(I fingered the media volume in the seting must be like 40 or 50% because of how quiet the sound was with headphones,but no! it was already at 100%).

This is pathetic , at full volume it's almost loud enough to enjoy and at 70% volume it is so quiet.

What could be the problem?
Can it be fixed?


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## Fatherboard

Can you not download an App that has a greater volume range and control? Search the App store and see what's available.


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## Geoff

Try using VLC or MX Player, I believe those can boost the volume 2x.


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## fox64

Geoff said:


> Try using VLC or MX Player, I believe those can boost the volume 2x.


I read about volume boosting apps but it may take awhile before I can have an amazon account as I dont have credit cards or whatever,
maybe I can use someone elseses or somethin.
I got the tablet mainly to surf the internet,watch youtube and enjoy SD cards full of mp4 videos. 
(I was going to worry about Apps much later if i ever got around to it.)

Thanks for the suggestions because this is a bizarre thing.
(Is there something wrong with the tablet? Could it be defective? why would they make it like this?
I want to get an amazon person on the phone or something and solve this mystery LOL.) 

I guess my best hope is to download some kind of volume booster.
Also the thing you said about the VLC or MX Players boosting volume 2x seem like it would work.
I figure I need at least 40% higher volume to reasonably enjoy movies and music videos to their fullest.


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## Geoff

fox64 said:


> I read about volume boosting apps but it may take awhile before I can have an amazon account as I dont have credit cards or whatever,
> maybe I can use someone elseses or somethin.


Huh?  Those are free apps...


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## fox64

Geoff said:


> Huh?  Those are free apps...


I know .
I was thinking that even though they are free, you still need an amazon account to download them. right?
What all do you need to do to make an account? isn't billing info required like credit cards or something?


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## Fatherboard

If you're worried about paying to download Apps to boost the volume of the tablet, as long as the tablet has the facility to connect to the internet, which I assume it does, then as said, the volume App will be free, the App itself will have nothing to do with Amazon, the tablet carries the Amazon name because it has been exclusively manufactured and produced for them by another manufacturer such as Samsung. As for these  Amazon Kindle tablets, you can download the Kindle App on ANY tablet and your mobile phone but whatever you download from Amazon will be charged for and you will need a credit/debit card account or a PayPal account.


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## Geoff

fox64 said:


> I know .
> I was thinking that even though they are free, you still need an amazon account to download them. right?
> What all do you need to do to make an account? isn't billing info required like credit cards or something?


If you don't want to sign up for an account, you won't be able to download apps at all.  A tablet without apps is only slightly better than a useless paper weight.


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## fox64

Update.

I downloaded about 3 different volume boosting apps and they did not seem to work.

I also downloaded the vlc player and it olny let me turn up the volume to 100%,(unlike vlc on my laptop which allows me to go upto 200%).

I wonder why its like this? does amazon think all the cool kids use the speaker and never headphones on tablets or somthing LOL?
(I personally think headphones are more important than speakers especially on tablets).
The speaker is as loud as you would expect but the headphone jack is not loud enough,on this tablet 100% is like 50% and on this tablet 50% is silent.

This tablet surfs the internet well and plays all the mp4 videos on my micro SD card, but in order to enjoy it  i'd say the headphone jack needs to be at least 30% louder.

Is it even possible for a tablet to be loud with headphones? Has anyone here ever encountered a tablet that is loud with headphones?
I remember my friend had a little cheap mp3 player and it was loud with headphones. 

I need to research this more, maybe there are sound boosting apps I haven't tried yet that will work.
Some of the apps acted like they were meant more for smart phones or something.
Is there a particular sound boosting app that ment for the fire tablet?


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## jlinger

fox64 said:


> Update.
> 
> I downloaded about 3 different volume boosting apps and they did not seem to work.
> 
> I also downloaded the vlc player and it olny let me turn up the volume to 100%,(unlike vlc on my laptop which allows me to go upto 200%).
> 
> I wonder why its like this? does amazon think all the cool kids use the speaker and never headphones on tablets or somthing LOL?
> (I personally think headphones are more important than speakers especially on tablets).
> The speaker is as loud as you would expect but the headphone jack is not loud enough,on this tablet 100% is like 50% and on this tablet 50% is silent.
> 
> This tablet surfs the internet well and plays all the mp4 videos on my micro SD card, but in order to enjoy it  i'd say the headphone jack needs to be at least 30% louder.
> 
> Is it even possible for a tablet to be loud with headphones? Has anyone here ever encountered a tablet that is loud with headphones?
> I remember my friend had a little cheap mp3 player and it was loud with headphones.
> 
> I need to research this more, maybe there are sound boosting apps I haven't tried yet that will work.
> Some of the apps acted like they were meant more for smart phones or something.
> Is there a particular sound boosting app that ment for the fire tablet?



Hey, I have the same issue. Have you got round this at all?


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## lincsman

where did you buy it? Maybe you could return it under warranty for a different one?


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## fox64

Update.

I got cheapo "ear bud" type earpones from a dollerstore they sounded horrible but they proved the concept  that ear buds can make the sound about 20% louder.
These earbuds were so bad they're almost useless but I think it was because of their low quality.not because of any inherent inferiority of ear bud type headphones.
Does anyone know of any earbud headphones that sound good for under 20$?


The koss "on ear" headphone I have always had are great on everything and are more than loud enough on all the laptops ,desctops and even other tablets.
even on the fire tablet I realise 8 out of 10 videos are loude enough to enjoy but its still so annoying to come across a move or music video that is not loud enough. the 20% more loudness of earbuds should help when encountering these videos.
(I think the fire tablet was calibrated with earbuds in mind or something).


ps
Forgive the lateness of my reply. I lost the internet for a while.


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## 1shado1

GENERALLY, a lower impedance headphone will sound louder than a high impedance headphone.  It is not the only factor in volume levels, but if 2 pairs of headphones were of identical construction, the one with lower impedance should be louder.


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## FuryRosewood

Sounds like a impedance problem yea, the headphones you are using are just not meant to be run off a mobile device, though if you are for closed cup headphones and want decent volume - the sennheiser 439s will do the job nicely on all integrated audio solutions.


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## Cisco001

You could try Panasonic ergofit rptcm125.
It is only $12.

Monoprice come to my mind first, but i cant find them as cheap as before.


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## Intel_man

1shado1 said:


> GENERALLY, a lower impedance headphone will sound louder than a high impedance headphone.  It is not the only factor in volume levels, but if 2 pairs of headphones were of identical construction, the one with lower impedance should be louder.





FuryRosewood said:


> Sounds like a impedance problem yea, the headphones you are using are just not meant to be run off a mobile device, though if you are for closed cup headphones and want decent volume - the sennheiser 439s will do the job nicely on all integrated audio solutions.



Honestly, I doubt it's the impedance of his headphones that is causing this. Nothing I know of in his price range for headphones is going to be spec'd at like 60 - 150 ohms.

Seems like a hardware limitation or a faulty built-in amp to me on his 7" Amazon Fire.


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## Cat

We downloaded speakerboost from the app market right from our amazon 7" tablet and it boosted the volume by 60%! Free app. Volume works great with our $1 store headphones now! Nice and loud!!


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## fox64

Update.... solved.

I bought some sony ear bud headphones from target and it solved the problem.


I was frustrated thinking it was the tablet but it was the headphones all along.
The koss head headphones work well on the laptop and desk top but were not well suited for the tablet.
That's what confused me I assumed it wasn't the koss headphones just because they were loud enough on the laptop.


(If I put the sony headphones in to the laptop I have to turn the pc volume down or it will be super loud even at 40%.)

So if anyone is having the problem this thread is about, just get some good soney 10 or 20 doller earbuds.

I lost the box but I think this is the model of earbud headphones I got....  (Sony Earbud Headphones (MDRE9LP) - Black)


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## 1shado1

Intel_man said:


> Honestly, I doubt it's the impedance of his headphones that is causing this. Nothing I know of in his price range for headphones is going to be spec'd at like 60 - 150 ohms.
> 
> Seems like a hardware limitation or a faulty built-in amp to me on his 7" Amazon Fire.



He mentioned he's using Koss headphones.  If he is using something like the Porta-Pro, the impedance of those is 60 ohms.  The impedance of his new earbuds which solved the problem is 16 ohms.  Not saying that impedance WAS the problem, just that it MAY have been a factor.


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## Bails

Just wanted to add that I have the same problem with the Kindle Fire 7 -- and strangely headphones that work well on my Kindle Fire 4 don't work on the 7.
Thank you for starting this thread, I really appreciate it! Until I read your post, I thought I was going crazy, or that it was just a problem with my specific device.

Question: Has anyone who experienced this problem found headphones that are over-the-ear (instead of earbuds) that solve the issue?


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## beers

You could roll a headphone amplifier or ones with less impedance/require less power to drive.  It seems like the jack doesn't produce enough power compared to other devices so you'd be stuck at low volume with certain headsets.


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## Bails

Thanks! I'll try a new pair of headphones. Should I look for something with less impedance or greater sensitivity?
(My current headphones are 32 ohm -- so my only option for reducing impedance is probably 16 ohm...) On the sensitivity front, I think my current ones are 80ish dbl/mw, so I could probably find some pretty easily that are above 100.


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## Ukrberserker

I downloaded Equalizer FX from the app store. It helped with movie volume. Haven't tried my radio at all.


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