Its most definitely louder, I had my phone turned up to the loudest settings and even then had trouble hearing it when it was laying on a table next to me and I had headphones on (only on, nothing playing through the headphones). After 2.2 (the leak for me, not official) I turned all the volumes down and I have have no problem hearing it repeating the same test as above.
Granted its not exactly a scientific test, and I only tested the leaked 2.2, not official, but it most definitely made it easier to hear my phone on even lower settings, which I assume was done by increasing volume in the firmware.