you know what really overcooks my ribeye to an inedible extra well done how
horribly inconvenient Windows audio settings have been for years
i mean sure turning the volume up and down typically isn't hard in fact you
can often do it from your keyboard but trying to do just about anything else is
such a chore even something as simple as switching
your output say from your desktop speakers to a pair of headphones often
requires going into a separate sound settings app and instructing your sound
chip to treat your headphone out and your speaker out as two separate outputs
now once you've done that switching between the two is just a matter of
opening up the volume slider clicking on the name of the output above it and then
clicking the speakers that you want but it isn't very obvious how to do this
as you more or less have to know that the menu exists beforehand i mean the
only hint you get is a little arrow above the volume slider fair enough
though i've got that memorized and then Windows 11 rolls around and microsoft
for whatever reason decides hey you know what users really need right now for the
sound options to be even more of a pain now clicking the notification area
brings up a quick settings menu that isn't even audio specific with another
tiny arrow next to the volume slider that is somehow even less obvious than
the one in Windows 10. then you've got the fact that it's also
not super clear how to adjust the volume for individual programs and with how
many things on our pcs can be constantly
screeching at us these days i would say that's a pretty important feature to
have quick access to especially if you've gotten tired of how auto playing
video ads inside your web browser can start all the crap out of you if you
aren't ready for them in Windows 10 and 11 that option isn't even located
anywhere in that volume slider menu you instead have to right click and select
open volume mixer where you're then greeted with the list of individual
programs and their volume levels Windows 11 finally did ditch that old
school looking volume mixer that's been basically unchanged since the days of
Windows 7 in favor of something more modern but it's still an annoying
treasure hunt if you don't know exactly what to click on now i'm going to keep
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techwiki will get 20 off an annual premium subscription so then what if you
want to change any additional settings like your input device or your left
right balance well guess what there is yet another menu for all of that simply
called sound settings that is separate from the volume mixer and look maybe
working your way through this maze of mouse clicks isn't as infuriating to you
as it is to me but the point is that it shouldn't be
hard to put many of these commonly used settings on one sound panel that comes
up with a single click in fact there are actually third party solutions out there
that do a much better job than what Windows offers by default one such app
is called ear trumpet not to be confused with the old school hearing aid ear
trumpet who did not sponsor this video offers quick access to a seamless
looking volume mixer for easy individual app control even allowing you to change
your sound output on a per app basis which you can do in Windows but again
it's hidden beneath a couple of submenus
it was developed by a team of only three people so you gotta think it wouldn't be
that hard for microsoft to make the built-in audio experience a little more streamlined especially considering that
the team behind deer trumpet is actually made up of ex-microsoft employees maybe
their workers are just prohibited from having too many good ideas at one time
but you're not prohibited from watching more of our videos leaving a like or a
dislike or subscribing yeah subscribing is good