cool :)

I have seen this work previously (Snow leopard? I never really used this, just tested it after reading a previous hint a while back), but just now I tried it again on the same Mac, now running 10.7.4. However, I don't seem to get any smaller increments. It makes full increments, but it doesn't play the ticking sound. I guess this is a feature in itself, to avoid clicking sounds during presentations, skype calls, movies etc.

did you remember the "option" key? Just getting rid of the clicking is shift by itself, which, incidentally, was re-published here within the last couple of weeks.

How do I make blushing-smiley in this forum? Of course I forgot the option key!

That means I can <i>confirm</i> that shift-option increments volume in smaller steps. :-)

Yes. My wife's MBA is only at 10.7.3 and that feature is missing. I didn't realize they restored it in 10.7.4. That's great, as I had been missing it. Thanks!

It works in Snow Leopard (10.6.8).

I tested and confirmed that this does not work on 10.7.3.

Yes, it works in Snow Leopard, and you have to hold down both the shift key and the option ket (at the same time to get the 1/4 increments. The shift key alone silences the sound of clicking through full increments, as described by the previous comment.

As published here before:
Shift + volume: adjust volume without/with feedback (opposite of whatever you have set in the sound prefpane)
Shift + option + volume: fine adjustment. Does not effect feedback.
Option + volume: open Sound in SystemPreferences

Similar tricks work for display brightness as well (specifically, shift-option to fine adjust and option to open the corresponding prefpane).

It is good to see that Apple has finally removed one more barrier to updating past 10.6.8.

Waaay past ;)

Confirmed, Shift-option-F11 does nothing in 10.7.3 (shift-F11 and option-F11 work).
(still at 10.7.3 due to IT policy)

I can confirm that this feature was missing in Lion through 10.7.4. Glad to see it's back.

I can verify that the feature disappeared in OS X 10.7. I'm glad to read that it's back. I used to use it often and missed it.

Hooray! Now the world may continue spinning.

This feature most certainly was missing in Lion before now---I even submitted a bug report to Apple about it! It's a feature that's very dear to me, and I've found myself not listening to my music as much from my computer because of its absence.

I just tried this and it WORKS, IT WORKS.

Thanks.

Awesome. I missed this.

Finally it is back! I can confirm that this worked in 10.6 and had stopped working in 10.7 until 10.7.4 where it now works again! I was missing this feature, because I still use the rather loud USB Sound Sticks I (number one, the oldest version back from the G4 days).

May I add another sub-hint?

Since the above had stopped working I resorted to lowering the volume to zero (no bars) and then hitting the mute key. This results in an even lower volume than the 1/4 bar which is now again possible. But anyway, it’s good that I can now use both ways again. Thanks for the hint! I wouldn’t have tried it again…

Option, Option-Shift key combination also work for screen brightness (F1 and F2) and keyboard brightness (F5 and F6)