We need physical audio kill switches • Hacker News Board

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#171

Post by lolc » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:49 PM UTC

gooseyard wrote: post #60

ive been working remotely for a few years and do a little recording and mixing on the side. I like using plain old analog headsets since they make it easy to have control over the sidetone level from the headset mic, and they're usable in many situations where a usb headset would not be. To simplify using one headset with a few different devices (pc, desk phone, ipod/phone), I wound up buying a little Behringer Xenyx…

Oh wow that is a really nice solution! Especially because this model has the right sockets to plug a headset into as you point out. And thanks for the note about pulseeffects.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#172

Post by Natales » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:49 PM UTC

Judgmentality wrote: post #80

liability wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like this make me glad I'm not an audiophile. What you describe seems very annoying, but thankfully I've never noticed anything like it.

I don't think there's much benefit to being an audiophile, unless you're so rich you can actually enjoy your insanely expensive setup in your sound-proofed room with your specially-purchased lossless audio sources. Luckily, very few people who claim to be audiophiles can actually hear the difference in a blind test. https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/...

Don't judge all of us audiophiles with a blanket statement. Yes, measured hearing capacity is definitely a key metric to know (why invest in super tweeters when you can't hear past 18KHz for example), but room acoustics is probably the very next thing I'd look at.

I've seen so much "expensive" gear in rooms that are absolutely horrid in terms of sound reflections. Just a carpet, curtains or a couple of cheap sound panels can make wonders in improving sound if you know just a bit of the physics of sound. You don't have to invest in super expensive equipment to do that.

Furthermore, there is a healthy DIY community these days, where you can build your own speakers, cables, amplifiers, etc, with very little effort, and get a lot of enjoyment in the process and with the product. I built a set of LX521.4 and LX Mini speakers from Siegfried Linkwitz [0] and it changed completely the way I listen to audio now for an order of magnitude less money that what I'd had to pay otherwise...

[0] http://linkwitzlab.com/

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#173

Post by WalterBright » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:49 PM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #89

vidanay wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our old office had a $5k fancy coffee maker with touch screen. Nobody knew what the hell all the icons meant, and nobody cleaned the milk siphon so it went moldy and was thrown out after two weeks. I insisted that we keep the old Bunn that had an advanced UI with a red illuminated On-Off switch. Six months later, it was the only one coffee maker still in use.

> Nobody knew what the hell all the icons meant, and nobody cleaned the milk siphon so it went moldy and was thrown out after two weeks. What’s the takeaway here? A group of spoiled adults couldn’t be bothered to read an instruction manual or clean something?

> couldn’t be bothered to read an instruction manual

The manual for a new car is an inch thick, and flipping through it while driving trying to figure out how to turn on the defroster is BAD BAD BAD BAD design.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#174

Post by romwell » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:50 PM UTC

vidanay wrote: post #4

I have accomplished this by using an external audio mixer at my desk. I have physical volume controls for three PC's, two ham radios, and a police scanner. Then there is a master volume control for everything mixed.

Same here. One advantage of a home studio setup is many, many sweet knobs.

The musicians have figured it long ago that physical controls and no latency is a must. $50 mixer solves many problems.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#175

Post by TheRealPomax » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:50 PM UTC

I'm not sure I get this article - if you want a physical kill switch for audio, get a volume controller and set that directly under your monitor? Now you have a physical kill switch in the form of a GIANT near-zero-friction volume knob as well as dedicated hardware true-instant-mute button.

No reason computers should come with that out of the box, in the same way there's no reason they should come with a DVD drive or a vertical mouse or brand-name webcam, but if that's what you need in your life, any of these are Because you don't need a $2000 audio interface with twenty XLR inputs with individually controlled phantom power and built in EQ, or even a $299 one that podcasters and youtubers like to keep recommending: if you just want control over your audio, get something like a Behringer MONITOR1 for $60 [1], or a slightly nicer Mackie "Big Knob" passive 2x2 for $70 [2] and go "ahh, exactly what I needed".

[1] https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0C9G

[2] https://mackie.com/products/big-knob-series-monitor-controll...

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#176

Post by paulcole » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:50 PM UTC

nicoburns wrote: post #148

paulcole wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody buys you a $5,000 screwdriver. Do you just use it wrong, not take care of it, and ruin it to make a point about how all you wanted was to turn a screw?

If that screwdriver makes it more difficult to turn a screw than a $50 screwdriver (or a $5 screwdriver) then... maybe?

Another thing being missed here is that the users in the original post didn’t want just a cup of coffee. If that’s all they wanted, they wouldn’t have used, not cleaned, and ruined the milk steaming wand.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#177

Post by MereInterest » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:52 PM UTC

mrkwse wrote: post #139

JD557 wrote: post #90

Since the user is complaining about the way Mac OS handles the audio buttons, I'm surprised that he doesn't mention the problems with HDMI. I don't understand why the OS disables the audio controls of HDMI outputs. If I press the volume down button, I want the volume to go down. Instead, I get a "I can't let you do that" warning! This is particularly bad if I have my headphones connected to the display (I have both m…

macOS disables the audio control of HDMI outputs because that is what the HDMI specification expects/defines. If you think of all the devices that output via HDMI, Windows PCs are the outlier (afaik, not sure how Linux handles it) in allowing separate volume controls beyond those on the output device. Satellite set top boxes, media streaming devices (e.g. Apple TV - I realise NVidia Shield and some Chromecast apps do…

It's still a really poor decision, because it doesn't extend well to having multiple sources. For example, my tv is connected both to my media computer, and to a Nintendo Switch. If the computer is active, then the volume should be around 50 on a 0-100 scale. If the Switch is active, then the volume should be around 10 to get the same level of output. I would love to have a way to tell the Switch that it should adjust the volume being sent, such that both it and the computer default to about the same volume.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#178

Post by Symbiote » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:52 PM UTC

skohan wrote: post #126

I've been thinking the same about power switches lately. If I turn a flashlight, or an old radio on or off, I flip a switch and get the result I want. With my 65 EUR gamepad, or 300 EUR headphones, I hold a button and wait several seconds for the result. Why has UX regressed so much in these areas?

My rented apartment has switches that presumably use radio to turn on and off the lights.

There is no further integration, or smart app etc.

I can't see which light switch is on or off, so even after years living here I mix up some of the switches.

Sometimes the radio pulse doesn't register, so I have to go back to the switch and press it again.

After pressing the switch, there's a perceivable, variable delay for the light to come on.

Guests are confused.

There are only downsides with such a system.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#179

Post by coretx » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:53 PM UTC

If you physically cut a audio signal, one end of the cable turns into a broadcasting radio antenna. Reality isn't as simple as presented.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#180

Post by WalterBright » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 7:53 PM UTC

rytis wrote: post #114

paulcole wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody knew what the hell all the icons meant, and nobody cleaned the milk siphon so it went moldy and was thrown out after two weeks. What’s the takeaway here? A group of spoiled adults couldn’t be bothered to read an instruction manual or clean something?

I guess the takeaway is that everyday utility instruments should not require time invested in studying manuals to operate them. Imagine that every screwdriver you buy requires you to read 20 page document that tells you how to operate it. As a user all I want is "a cup of coffee". Why do I need to read that manual? What if I'm just a visitor, and was told that "the coffee machine is over there". Do I really want to r…

Fortunately, my cheapo coffee machine has only one button - a mechanical rocker on switch. Unfortunately, it uses icons for which side is "ON", so I rock it until it starts getting warmer.