How to increase volume in headphones on Xiaomi through the engineering menu: the complete guide

Are you tired of the quiet sound in your headphones on your Xiaomi smartphone, even when the volume slider is twisted to the maximum? The problem is familiar to many users - the manufacturer limits the maximum volume level to protect your hearing and speakers. But what if you are confident in the quality of your headphones and want to unleash their potential?

In this article, we will show you how to increase the volume in headphones on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO devices through a hidden engineering menu. You will learn about safe ways of setting up, possible risks and alternative methods of amplifying sound. Importantly, all manipulations you perform at your own risk - the wrong settings can lead to audio distortion or damage to equipment.

Why Xiaomi limits the volume in headphones?

Smartphone manufacturers, including Xiaomi, deliberately lower their maximum volume for several reasons:

• 🔊 Hearing protection: Long-term listening to music at high volume (above 85 dB) can cause permanent damage to hearing (EN 50332) to limit the sound level in headphones.
• 🛡️ Equipment safety: A powerful signal can overload the speakers of cheap headphones, causing distortion or physical wear and tear.
• 📱 Legal requirements: Some countries (e.g. the EU) have laws limiting the maximum volume of portable devices.
• 🔋 Charge savings: High volume increases the load on the processor and battery, reducing battery life.

However, these limitations are often excessive for quality headphones with impedance above 32 ohms. Many users of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro, POCO X3 Pro or Mi 11 note that even at maximum, the sound remains quiet.

⚠️ Warning: Volume rise above factory limits can lead to:

• 🔇 The appearance of wheezing and distortion at high frequencies.
• 🔥 Overheating of headphones or 3.5 mm connector (if used).
• 🩺 Increased hearing fatigue during prolonged listening.

Preparing for changes in settings: what you need to know

Before you start setting up, make sure that:

Use high-quality headphones with impedance ≥32 ohms

Charged the smartphone at least 50%

Backup of important data

You know your device model (e.g. Redmi 9T)

Ready for possible resetting of sound settings-->

Also check if the soft sound is a consequence of other problems:

• 🧹 Connector contamination: If you use wired headphones, clean the socket 3.5 mm of dust with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol.
• 🔄 Incorrect uniformity settings: in the standard sound menu (Settings) → Turn off Adaptive Sound or Mi Sound Enhancer.
• 🔋 Battery savings: in energy saving mode (Settings) → Battery: The sound can be automatically muted.

If the sound remains quiet after checking, go to the setting via the engineering menu.

1. The access code to the engineering menu (universal or for your model).
2. Knowing the parameters that can be changed without risk.
3. Understanding how to return the settings to factory settings if the sound gets worse.

How to open an engineering menu on Xiaomi

Engineering Mode is a hidden settings section designed to test and calibrate equipment, and to get into it:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Type one of the commands (depending on the model): For most Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO: ##4636## For older models (until 2018): ##36446337## For Black Shark: #4636### → Hardware Testing

Settings → About the phone

MIUI version

For developers

Once you enter the code, you will see a menu with tabs like Information, Battery, Usage statistics, and more, and you will need a hardware testing tab (or Audio on some firmware) to customize the sound.

⚠️ Note: if a message is sent to Connection problem or invalid after entering the code MMI code, then:

• 📱 Your model does not support this code (relevant for new HyperOS devices).
• 🔒 Manufacturer has blocked access to the engineering menu through standard commands (the solution is to use the system). ADB).
• 📲 You enter the code in the application for calls from a third-party developer (use the standard Phone app).

💡

If the engineering menu doesn’t open, try entering the code through the Emergency Call app – sometimes it works on locked devices.

Step-by-step instructions for increasing volume

When you are on the engineering menu, follow this instruction:

1. Go to the Hardware Testing tab.
2. Select Audio (or Headset, if any).
3. In the Type section, specify Headset (for wired headphones) or Headphone (for Bluetooth).
4. Find the parameters: Max Vol (or Max Volume) is the maximum volume. Level X (where X is the number from 0 to 7) is the volume levels for different ranges. Sip Vol is the volume during calls (do not touch if you do not need to).

Max Vol

Do not exceed 180, which can cause distortion.

Set

Apply

Reboot your smartphone.

After the reboot, check the sound in your headphones. If you have wheezing, reduce the Max Vol by 5-10 units. The optimal value is selected experimentally.

Alternative ways to amplify sound

If the engineering menu is not available or you don’t want to take risks, try these methods:

• 🎧 Equalizer apps: Wavelet (with AutoEQ support) - customizes the sound to specific headphone models. Poweramp Equalizer - has pre-settings for different genres of music. ViPER4Android (requires root – professional equalizer with effects.
• 🔊 Developer Settings: Activate Developer Mode (7 times tap on Version) MIUI In Settings → Turn on the option to turn off the absolute volume - this will help for Bluetooth headphones.
• 🔌 Hardware amplifiers: Use an external DAC (e.g. Xiaomi) USB-C to 3.5mm Adapter with amplifier. For wired headphones, connect a portable amplifier (e.g. FiiO) A1).

If you use Bluetooth headphones, check the connection codec:

1. Go to Settings → Connected devices → Settings gear next to the headphones → Sound codec.
2. Select aptX, LDAC or AAC over SBC (default) which will improve sound quality but may increase latency slightly.

💡

The safest way to amplify sound is to use equalizer apps, which do not change system settings and allow for flexible frequency settings.

Xiaomi models that work (and don’t work)

Access to the engineering menu and the ability to change volume depends on the model of the smartphone and the firmware version. Here are the current data for 2026:

On new devices with HyperOS (for example, Xiaomi 14 or Redmi Note 13 Pro)+) The engineering menu is often blocked, and the alternative is to use it. ADB-team:

adb shell settings put global volume_music_speaker_scale 1.5


adb shell settings put global volume_headset_scale 1.5

These commands increase the volume scale by 50 percent, and be careful, because values above 1.8 can cause distortion.

Possible problems and solutions

After changing the settings in the engineering menu, the following problems may arise:

• 🔇 Sound is quieter: Check if the settings have reset after the reboot. Make sure that the settings are in Settings. → No sound activated function Quiet mode or Do not disturb.
• 🎵 There's a distortion: Reduce the Max Vol by 5-10 units. Check the headphones on another device -- maybe they're the problem.
• 📵 Headphones not defined: Clear the Bluetooth app cache (Settings) → Annexes → Application management → Bluetooth → Clear the cache. Reconnect the headphones in safe mode.
• 🔄 Settings are not saved: Repeat the procedure and press Set after each change. If custom firmware is used, install the Audio Modification Library module via Magisk.

⚠️ Warning: If after changes in the engineering menu, the smartphone begins to overheat or discharge quickly, immediately return the settings to the factory.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions