You may need to turn your audio up if you're sending it to something other than your ears, such as the input jack of another device. Tech is just tech. What you do with it is what matters.
If you need to send the signal to something else it would be better to buy something with a line level output and connect it to an amplifier.
A better way would be to use the ipod with a dock with a proper line out (the basic dock from Apple has one).