Bonzi, you're right! That would make perfectly sense.

As a side note, I should have an iPod Classic 120 US version in my hands in a week from now. Hopefully by then I can make a full comparison and post the results here. I will definitely check what the "volume adjust" slider does on the US iPod Classic.

Also, i did some research on the volume cap, and it really seems it is a French, not EU, regulation. So, I guess Apple did not bothered making more than one EU firmware...