One thing I've been wondering about with the 3DS lately is the output. Not just through its built in speakers and plugged in headphones, but even the line output is shockingly quiet. Connected to a very capable amplifier it is exponentially less than every single other line device I have ever used. For a lot of things, even if I set the system volume and the amplifier's volume all the way to the absolute maximum it's still not quite enough. I have to actually connect an amplifier in-line for some things when I want the music at a good volume (only a few games are worthy of this, but some truly really are.) Needless to say, this is a real pain to deal with -- especially since the absolute cheapest of the decent quality ones like the E5 won't really do this sort of thing (it doesn't really amplify so much as just compensate for really bad OPAMPs not being able to handle even cheap headphones well.)
More confusing still, I'd just swear I remember them being louder originally (besides my current very recent model N3DS, I've had an O3DS and a 2DS, so I've been using them for a good while.) However, if I compare, my 2DS is not significantly louder (I've kind of made it not very good for testing by cutting out the plastic around the speaker so the sound is a lot clearer and better overall, but I don't want to do this for my N3DS as the chassis is not even remotely close to being as easy to work with.) Between this and the fact that even the line output to an external amplifier is ridiculously low I've been wondering if this is a software issue rather than a hardware one -- specifically if the system is essentially using a mixer setting that lowers main volume on purpose. I can absolutely see Nintendo doing a thing like this too with many countries even outright forcing a volume limit that assumes all devices are exactly the same (when, in actual reality, not all people use ultra-sensitive, ultra-cheap IEMs, so a limit for one thing isn't the same for another obviously.) Especially since Nintendo has children in mind a lot with the 3DS systems for all that they basically target all ages.
I'm particularly wondering this because if this is something being done in software, perhaps it could be adjusted back to a 0dB output by a CFW?
More confusing still, I'd just swear I remember them being louder originally (besides my current very recent model N3DS, I've had an O3DS and a 2DS, so I've been using them for a good while.) However, if I compare, my 2DS is not significantly louder (I've kind of made it not very good for testing by cutting out the plastic around the speaker so the sound is a lot clearer and better overall, but I don't want to do this for my N3DS as the chassis is not even remotely close to being as easy to work with.) Between this and the fact that even the line output to an external amplifier is ridiculously low I've been wondering if this is a software issue rather than a hardware one -- specifically if the system is essentially using a mixer setting that lowers main volume on purpose. I can absolutely see Nintendo doing a thing like this too with many countries even outright forcing a volume limit that assumes all devices are exactly the same (when, in actual reality, not all people use ultra-sensitive, ultra-cheap IEMs, so a limit for one thing isn't the same for another obviously.) Especially since Nintendo has children in mind a lot with the 3DS systems for all that they basically target all ages.
I'm particularly wondering this because if this is something being done in software, perhaps it could be adjusted back to a 0dB output by a CFW?
