Game:

Mario Kart 8 (2014)

Duration: 2:31

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11

Footage (mostly) irrelevant!

The 3DS has always sounded quiet to me, but I never really went out and tested just HOW quiet it is! This video will show ya. The audio is all relative, so this isn't how loud it would sound if you were to plug your headphones into your system, but it DOES show you how loud the DS Lite is in comparison to the 3DS.


In short: First minute or so is the DS Lite, Second minute or so is the 3DS.


In length: I used the same audio capture settings on my computer for each system and captured from the headphone jack of each system with the volume slider set to max.

I then used Audacity's Amplification filter to see just how much amplification would be allowed before reaching peak amplitude (without clipping). This was done on the same segment of music for each system capture.


Here be the findings:

(Plugged/Unplugged denotes whether the AC Adapter was powering the unit.)

DS Phat
Unplugged: +5.0 dB
Plugged: +4.7 dB

DS Lite
Unplugged: +4.8 dB
Plugged: +4.4 dB


3DS Original
Unplugged: +11.5 dB
Plugged: +11.5 dB

3DS XL
Unplugged: +11.7 dB
Plugged: +11.7 dB

(The smaller the number, the louder the original sound file was!)


As you can see, the 3DS units are significantly more quiet than the older DS models! There is also no change with an AC adapter further lending to the idea of a hard limiter being in place by Nintendo! All I can say is, "Booo Nintendo! Boo~!" I personally think it's a terrible shame that the 3DS can't get even the least bit loud. I know they want to protect folks' hearing and all, but the maximum level is just barely satisfactory, and we all have times we want to rock out, right? That said, DO realize that listening to too high a volume for extended periods does indeed contribute to hearing loss/damage, ok?

ROCK OUT RESPONSIBLY!

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