Comment 6 for bug 187848

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Prashant Vaibhav (mercurysquad) wrote :

I would very much consider this a usability bug in gnome-alsamixer. AlsaMixer shows all channels exposed by Alsa directly, much of which depends on the hardware, and is rather unintelligible for casual users.

I propose replacing Alsa Mixer with something simpler, perhaps creating two 'modes' of operation, a simple mode and an advanced mode (which can be the current implementation).

The simple mode should only have 2 sliders : playback, and record level, and a mute button.

The playback slider should control Master and Headphone outputs. All other levels should be set to either maximum, or some other default like 80%, and unmuted.

The record slider should control the Capture channel. The capture should by default be set to Microphone. There could be an additional "Mic level boost" check box for those who need it.

Starting with Hardy, since PulseAudio will be used to control per-application audio levels, just two sliders, one for overall playback and one for record level, should be sufficient for most users. Pro-audio or amateur audio enthusiasts will probably know their configuration better and avoid using PulseAudio at all.