I'll probably change the strings soon, anyway, but I was warned by the previous owner that it was a loud SOB and, although it didn't seem to bad when I was even more of a novice, it's getting to be unbearable now that I'm not so timid.

It doesn't sound bad (and I suspect that what does sound bad has to do with the incompetent holding the bow). It's actually a pretty good-sounding fiddle, I think, for a totally nondescript instrument. It's just loud.