Adjusting the volume of a playing AVPlayer

Question

The only method for getting a volume change on currently playing AVPlayer items is to follow this process;

• Offload the currently playing AVPlayerItem's asset
• Grab the current playback time for that AVPlayerItem
• Load the asset into a new AVPlayerItem
• Replace the current AVPlayerItem with the new one
• Wait for the currentItem to change on the AVPlayer
• Prepare your AudioMix and seek to previous playback time

Have I missed a basic principle somewhere or is it meant to be this convoluted to simply manage volume levels?

I cannot use an AVAudioPlayer because I need to load iTunes tracks into the player.