Sega Megadrive audio volume really sooo bad?

[retromod]

My girlfriend owns a full packaged mega drive II and I have not really put attention to it. She loves it but for me the games are a little bit limited (as not simple gameplay on one side and bad gfx/audio on the other).

Nevertheless a friend visited me today having a megadrive II with CD extension in his bag. He bought it at ebay but it seems not to work. After a minute problem was found and repaired. But I wondered that the audio output is sooo low. I also tested the console from my girlfriend and the same issue:

All consoles (except the 7800) are on volume 1 of my TV (out of 30). I can't hear anything here. If I increase the volume to about 25 i'm able to hear the sound (not very loud). I use the AV/composite cable. Both console same behavior. Having no other cable but it is 1:1 from console out to TV. Scary for me as I found no information about similar issue or complain of owners (ok my girlfriend doesn't care at all until now).

Is it true the mega drive is sooo worse in audio loudness?

[Shadowrunner]

Some consoles are definitely louder than others, but I've never really noticed the MD being that different. I have a model one Genesis and CD, a 32X, a couple model twos, and a CDX and I've never had any problems like what you're experiencing. Odd that they're both doing the same thing.

[TrekMD]

I've not noticed this issue with my Genesis console.  I use it on the same TV as the other consoles and loudness is the same.  I don't need to make any adjustment.

[retromod]

The atari 7800 requires also adjustment of volume. But only a small adjustment. That's the reason my stereo mod increases volume. Most likely i add the mega drive to my modding portfolio . People start to ask if i support them.