I think the advent of digital controls for audio devices has been something of a two-edged sword.  While they often offer easier and more precise control in some areas, the one where many of them fall flat is in volume control.

Of particular annoyance to me is the fact that most digital volume controls operate based on a digital step scale of volume versus a continuously variable scale like the older potentiometer-based controls.  This means that even if you have a volume control knob on a digital device, it likely just operates by steps.  If the designers of the device took this into account, then the steps are very small and the device simulates a potentiometer pretty well.  The problem comes in when the designers of the device use larger steps.  The one that’s been bugging me of late is the volume control on the radio in my Avalanche.  It’s a factory system and I just can’t seem to find the right volume level, especially when I have someone in the vehicle with me.  It’s either slightly too low or slightly too high.  Clicking the button on the steering wheel or moving the knob on the face both act the same way: they move the volume by one quantum at a time in either direction.  There is no in-between or fine control.

Unfortunately, given the incestuous* way in which the factory radio is wired into my truck, it’d be a real pain (not to mention expensive) to replace it.

* I’ve got the 6-CD changer with XM radio and the Bose system in this truck.  It also has rear-seat audio controls and OnStar.  In addition, in 2003 Avalanches and newer, the radio is used for the door chime system.  If you remove the factory radio you remove the chimes that warn you about leaving the headlights on, that your key is in the ignition, and in my case, the chime that tells me the 5-second delay locks have been activated.  If replaced, the best that can be done is to put in a new head unit with its own XM receiver and an adapter that lets the OnStar use the front speakers.  The rear audio controls would be inoperative as would all the chimes.  But even this has to be done carefully, as the whole damn thing is on the vehicle’s data bus, which can interoperate with the Body Control Module and the Powertrain Control Module (!).  The fuse to the above adapter has to be pulled if they reflash either of these or the modules can be made inoperative.  In this case, losing the PCM would turn the Avalanche into a 5000-lb paperweight.  All in all it’s just too much damn trouble to replace it, so I’ll just keep being annoyed by the volume or maybe get used to it in a few years.  It’s just not the sort of thing you notice on a test drive, though, although I will pay more attention in the future.