High volume burst on start of playback

[budder]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 4a

Operating System

Android 13

Spotify Version 8.9.8.545

Headphones WH-XB910N both LDAC and AAC Firmware 1.2.2

My Question or Issue

Issue 1: The spotify app is closed. Open the app. Begin playback of anything. At the start of playback the volume is briefly very high and then clips back down to normal. The beginning of playback is also distorted.

Issue 2: Pause playback. Begin playback again. The volume burst is lower, still noticeable, and lacks distortion.

These issues persist regardless of the volume normalization setting or the Volume level adjust setting.

High volume bursts can be painful and damaging to hearing. These issues do not occur with the same headphones on Windows 11 and the desktop version of Spotify. Indeed, the desktop version includes a smooth ramp up in volume, starting from a very low volume and ending at a normal volume, which completely alleviates this issue. These issues do not occur with other apps on the same android device with the same headphones.

Specifically the android version of spotify has high volume bursts which are painful and detrimental to ear health. They should be fixed and the smooth ramp up from low volume, as present on the desktop version, should be implemented.

[Maria]

Hey @budder,

Thanks for raising this on the Community!

Just to confirm, does the same thing happen when connected to a different pair of headphones, or when playing directly from the phone (without being connected to any headphones)?

Could you also check if clearing stored cache within the app makes any difference? Once it's done, try logging out and back in again. Completing these steps should re-sync your account info.

Shouldn't that do the trick, feel free to send us a video showing how things look from your end after starting playback. If the files are too large to attach here in the Community, you can send them to us via Google Drive or as unlisted YouTube videos.

Let us know how you get on.