Volume control (Spotify ---- to Unity Atom)

Posted by: tony123 on 05 May 2018

Hi,
I've just begin using Spotify and noticed one problem which can become very serious on some audio systems.

Currently I'm using Naim Unity Atom. When I play music from Spotify, the volume control is absolute. This means - if I accidentally move the slider to max position (for example accidentally holding "+" button on the phone), the volume immediately goes to MAX position on Unity Atom also!!! This means, that the Unity will begin to produce MAX amplifier power to the speakers, with all the clipping and distortion.

We all know that this is very bad to speakers, and every audio enthusiast is protecting his volume knob like his eyes. Turning too much volume can really do bad things to speakers. So I think this Spotify and Naim Unity Atom volume interaction is really dangerous.

Yesterday I had a guest - my old friend came to meet me. After some conversation he decided to show me new song he liked very much. He took my phone, opened Spotify, found the song and pressed play button. He wanted more volume and immediately moved the slider to MAX, not even thinking about this. Happily everything has ended fine, because I was near Unity and immediately turned it off. I explained the problem to my friend and he said, that his Spotify volume control on his audio system is NOT absolute, but local (it just amplifies the pre-amp's line in volume, so it always has to be on max..).

It is very easy mistakenly or accidently move the Spotify volume slider to MAX (or nearly max) and this can do catastrophe to speakers. I think Unity Atom should have some protections against this.

What do you think?

 

Posted on: 05 May 2018 by SimonPeterArnold

That's how Spotify app works I don't think Naim can change it as its not made by them and you would have two volumes to play with one in the app and one on the Atom. It works like that on all systems that use Spotify connect I have tried. You could adjust the max volume allowed  on the Atom to avoid it if it worries you.