Nothing will ever come close to convenience of analogue volume knobs. They give both immediate action and infinite granular control. Same
goes for kitchen stoves. All the modern touch controls with step-based control is the absolute nightmare in terms of UI.
We need physical audio kill switches
11–20 of 443 posts
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#12I agree with him. Also, why is there no microphone mute button (or shortcut) integrated in windows? Seems like a must-have nowadays.
Absolutely, especially since software like Zoom allows the call host to unmute the microphone on your (!) end.
It's unsurprising and possible with any kind of software mute of course, but still significant enough for me to seek out a solution - I use https://sourceforge.net/projects/micmute/ but it's not without its hitches, unfortunately :/
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#13My old IBM ThinkPads operate exactly as he described, the embedded controller immediately instructs the hardware amplifier to adjust its volume or power down. My slightly less old Lenovo X201t does everything in software, and while my computer is still groggy after waking from suspend it often takes 10-15 seconds for volume changes to take effect.
Old computer had a lot of things we don't have toady anymore.
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#14The real design flaw here is not conveniently being able to set the volume per application. Most systems are able to do this, but don't expose that functionality conveniently. In my opinion the volume keys should only be adjusting the volume for the application/website currently in focus.
It's just one click more on windows (instead of left click on speaker icon you have to right click -> open volume mixer). It's incredibly useful, but browsers bring it to its limits: I can only adjust the volume of the entire browser, not individual tabs. And the solutions browsers have come up with are worse (only mute/unmute) and don't scale beyond 20 tabs or so.
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#15I have encountered the opposite problem.
Some speakers turn themselves off automatically when they don't detect any sound on the line for a certain amount of time.
So when you want to have your monitoring application ring the alarm on the speaker, you need to be aware of it so you don't miss it.
Depending on the speaker you may need to be continuously playing some very low volume audio to prevent them from auto-turning off.
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#16The real design flaw here is not conveniently being able to set the volume per application. Most systems are able to do this, but don't expose that functionality conveniently. In my opinion the volume keys should only be adjusting the volume for the application/website currently in focus.
No way. You'll never remember which thing you last set to silent or too loud and next time it'll come out surprisingly wrong. You might not know which window is in focus, and it might not be the one playing the sound. If you do accidentally turn up, say your web browser while trying to adjust your media player, you'll never know how much too loud it will be until next time some autoplaying video starts. It would be a frustrating mess. Just change the volume when you turn the knob without any stupid computer logic trying to get in your way.
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#17Nothing will ever come close to convenience of analogue volume knobs. They give both immediate action and infinite granular control. Same goes for kitchen stoves. All the modern touch controls with step-based control is the absolute nightmare in terms of UI.
With one specific exception - stereo volume knobs often - virtually always - suffer from stereo imbalance, where the volume of the left and right channels are slightly different.
Some high-end amplifiers offer a relay based volume system where the knob simply switches resistors in and out of the audio path using relays to adjust the volume, and although this does result in "steps" of volume, it does mean the stereo balance is always perfect.
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#18I have encountered the opposite problem. Some speakers turn themselves off automatically when they don't detect any sound on the line for a certain amount of time. So when you want to have your monitoring application ring the alarm on the speaker, you need to be aware of it so you don't miss it. Depending on the speaker you may need to be continuously playing some very low volume audio to prevent them from auto-turni…
I have this issue with a subwoofer - coupled with a bad amplifier/grounding/(something?) it creates an immense WOOOOF every time it turns on and off. This causes my house to shake 15 minutes after I go to bed, just as I'm about to fall asleep. Have definitely considered auto-starting something that played a continuous low tone to prevent it from happening.
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#19I’ve got a microphone with a physical kill switch and when turned off it still leaks like a sieve. Be careful with those switches.
If you have two kill switches, one on each wire, would it still leak?
Or, instead of single-pole, single-throw switch, have a double-pole switch which pulls it to ground instead of leaving it floating?
Re: We need physical audio kill switches
#20I’ve got a microphone with a physical kill switch and when turned off it still leaks like a sieve. Be careful with those switches.
I always wondered if these physical switches are actually reliable and now reading your comment actually terrifies me. This behavior can cause irreversible social damage in say during high steak business meetings. One could absolutely sue the microphone manufacturer for this.