I like to use Pandora from time to time. What I've noticed is that Pandora seems to have a restricted max volume. When I play audio files on my computer using Foobar2000 (music player software), I have to decrease the volume within the player by about 9dB to have it equal the reduced volume from Pandora.
When listening to Pandora by itself, I can simply turn up the volume on my preamp in order to compensate. Unfortunately it can cause issues if I go back to using another sound source afterward (another sound source on my PC or a different overall sound source) without turning the volume back down on my preamp. Compensating for 9dB difference in source volume can result in significant differences in preamp volume, to the point of potentially damaging equipment if I don't turn it back down after listening to pandora.
I don't understand why Pandora restricts it's max volume so much. The only thing I've found that somewhat works is to basically turn down the volume on every other source so that everything is mostly equal. Unfortunately while that is great for preventing accidents, I'm not sure that using a lower source volume for everything else is really worth the potential reduction in SNR.
For anyone who has dealt with this, what was your solution?
When listening to Pandora by itself, I can simply turn up the volume on my preamp in order to compensate. Unfortunately it can cause issues if I go back to using another sound source afterward (another sound source on my PC or a different overall sound source) without turning the volume back down on my preamp. Compensating for 9dB difference in source volume can result in significant differences in preamp volume, to the point of potentially damaging equipment if I don't turn it back down after listening to pandora.
I don't understand why Pandora restricts it's max volume so much. The only thing I've found that somewhat works is to basically turn down the volume on every other source so that everything is mostly equal. Unfortunately while that is great for preventing accidents, I'm not sure that using a lower source volume for everything else is really worth the potential reduction in SNR.
For anyone who has dealt with this, what was your solution?