The phone I have is an Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade. I do have a custom ROM but it's not the one mentioned above.   I actually prefer the idea of blocking out background noise first before turning up the volume. The lower I am able to keep the volume the better for my ears after all! 

Been using Sennheiser MX500 buds for years, now have a cheap Android phone and the volume is capped - I can barely hear music over traffic noise.   I've decided to invest in my first pair of IEMs. Top priority is noise isolation and I read Shures are great for this with their foam buds. I've...