So, I often listen to podcasts in bed with earbuds. It's night, and it's quiet, and I've found that I actually _bottom out_-- I'm at the lowest volume setting, with the next lowest being "mute", and I wish I could lower it a few more times. I need finer control over volume. (I'm on android, if anyone has any solutions...)

I had exactly this problem when listening to music on my phone using cheap, low-impedance earbuds! I searched for audio player apps that offer some equalizer controls. One option is to lower all the sliders equally across the different frequencies, but it's easier to get an app that also has a single "preamp" slider which affects the signal across all frequencies. I settled on Poweramp [0], which has a two week free trial. I bought the full version (4 USD) after confirming that it did what I wanted.

I agree with the other answers about getting an in-line volume control -- if you're using wired headphones. They're also great on airplanes: turn the provided entertainment up to maximum volume with the buttons on the armrest or wherever; turn the volume on the in-line attenuator down to nearly zero; listen in comfort. I noticed that whenever an announcement is made in the cabin, it seems to disregard your volume setting on the entertainment and just blasts your ears at 100%. If you've already set your in-line attenuator to deal with movies at 100%, then the announcement doesn't hurt your eardrums. I bought this one because it doesn't add a lot of extra length to the cable [1].

[0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maxmpz.aud...

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DJTB32

What I always want for is a compressor control. The volume range in movies is never right and I hate fiddling with the volume all the time.

I'd expect that sort of thing would be a default in audio players and TVs but at my price level I never see it anywhere.

I just want to hear the whispers without being discombobulated by the louder parts.

VLC has a compressor option. Turn that option on, crank the VLC volume to the maximum, and then lower the system volume to taste.

IMO the effect isn't quite strong enough to be 100% effective, but it's better than nothing.

You are looking for dynamic range compression, or something that manipulates gain between tracks. Its a pretty standard feature on lots of equipment, like you mentioned. A lot of the time it might just be denoted by a setting called "equalize loudness" or something.

That would be great, wonder if there's a software that does that when playing movies on the computer...

Search your favourite online store or ebay for "3.5mm stereo inline volume control" -- a few inches of cable with a headphone plug and socket on either end and a passive volume control between them. Simple but effective.

This is a great idea. I wish there were such a device for Bluetooth! I have earbuds that seal quite well and, at least on my Android device, there's a volume setting around 20% that's slightly too loud, and one around 10% that's slightly too soft. The rocker buttons do not seem to allow me to reach any intermediate setting.

Meanwhile the entire upper 60% of the volume range has zero utility. I cannot imagine the pain that max volume would induce.

My approach to solving that problem in software was to play music through an app with an equalizer where I could cut several dB across all frequencies (see my other post above). Now I can use much more of the system volume range with the rocker buttons before I reach a painful volume.

If you're listening to something like YouTube, or streaming audio through a web browser, then a music player app isn't going to cut it for you. There are some systemwide EQ apps, but I think they didn't work well (or maybe at all) on my 2014 Moto X, so I can't recommend any specific one.

Does your Android phone have an option to limit the maximum volume? Depending on how it's implemented, that may give you more resolution out of the rocker buttons.

If the option exists, it may be in with other audio/volume options, or it could be with the parental controls options.

Haven't tried it, but there seem to be apps doing this. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=opotech.finevo...

That looks very promising! I was searching for systemwide EQ apps about a year ago (with the aim of cutting several dB across all frequencies, not actually using it as an EQ) and I don't think I saw that one.

I just gave it a try on my 2014 Moto X (which has had weird EQ-related bugs in some other apps) and it worked fine. I was able to make fine adjustments to audio whether it was playing from Firefox, YouTube, or my music app of choice.

I'll bet you could write an app to do it. My hunch is that the OS provides gradations of volume that aren't available to the regular user interface, and you could override that interface with an app.

There. A startup idea, or at least a nice side project for someone familiar with Android coding.

I've found that side projects are successful when they number < 2. :3 Maybe I'll go plant a seed with the android team at my company.

There are earbuds with an analog volume control slider (not up/down buttons) built into the cord.

Perhaps an external headphone amp? I use an old one from my gaming headset days at work. Seems to help since I can set the laptop volume really low and use the knob on the amp to go lower.