Thanks, Ken, that lines up with my experience, too. Glad to know I'm not the only one!
I've got a 2013 model E-bow and the volume difference isn't too extreme, but there aren't really many useful sounds to be had with an MFD. The approach to the hot spot is still pretty abrupt and I've noticed the scraping/scratching sound over the pole pieces, too.
After some more messing around today, I got a couple of half decent sounds - mostly in the "swarm of angry bees through a fuzz pedal" ballpark. No way I can do cello/flute/horn imitations like they have on the website, though. I'm sure that one day I'll be looking for a particular sound and the E-bow will be perfect, it's just not good for much else in the meantime
Cheers
Pat