I am grateful that James found a way. Kudos to the team.
First, I have often referenced DFX and the mini panel. Its return would solve this ‘problem’. It allowed for skins to be small enough to be unobtrusive if always on top. The current ‘mini’ panel does contain the necessary control but is obtrusive.
And I just discovered does not have an always on top.
I use a trackball. Currently, three mouse actions plus scrolling are necessary to switch output from the systray. The actual control is difficult to target with a mouse click. The sequence of mouse movements is complex and if a particular left click misses and fails to hold the sub-menu open, or that click is not employed and the scroll rolls off the control, the entire menu disappears.
I have experimented with various mouse/hardware control options. F’ng Windblows. Solutions are not consistent across configurations/platforms. This particular annoyance is sufficient to cause me to consider purchasing a $100 Logitech to replace my $50 Logitech because $100 gets me an extra button for ctrl+shift+w assignment. A convict and a drug addict took a big chunk of my pay and this Marine would rather pry a new mouse from a dead fascist’s hand than to spend another nickel. This feature might keep me out of the news.
If ‘Playback Device Select’ sub-menu is raised one level (sub-menu eliminated, contents listed), the request is sufficiently addressed. I do not foresee menu clutter (what IS the maximum number of output devices IRL?)
Is the middle click function available for assignment to ‘set output to default’?
I like the ideas of an always on top option and making the mini mode smaller.
And I could see raising the level of the playback device selection as being helpful. I guess most people will only have a few playback devices to select from, so I don’t think it would be too cluttered. What do you think @bvijay?
Yes, the mini mode can be made smaller and always on top. The mini mode window can be moved to the bottom near the systray, so that it won’t obstruct other applications.
If the number of devices present is less, then the device list can be in the top-level menu. When the menu opens if the devices are more than 5 we can show them in the sub-menu, otherwise show them in the top-level menu. What do you think of this idea?
I think WOW spells MOM upside down. And your idea is exactly what the doctor ordered. This software is worth every penny I did not spend and I did not spend a lot of them.
“The mini mode window can be moved to the bottom near the systray”
I keep mine offset from the upper right corner. But I hear you.
Thank you. There is a ‘complication’. Now, in the gooey world of GUI things, my eye stops reading because it detects a conflict or discrepancy in the form and focuses there.
The [Device List] is segregated with format lines. [Preset select >] immediately precedes one format line. The next item presents as an expanded select list and reads [Playback Device select] followed by the WindBlows merged description of device and device name.
My eye stops there. The rule of the most information available in a single glance is broken. It could be just my eye, but the font size seems larger for [Playback Device Select]. Menu hierarchy. idk. The top is in the middle and my glance must resolve that first. And then Bill’s little f’up with device descriptions must also be translated.
The former method did not require a resolution. It was another click, but it flowed mindlessly through the gooey world of GUI things.
Is it possible to move the [Playback Device Select] to the top? It would eliminate one format line and resolve the illusion of an expanded [Preset Select >]. I argue that Playback Device is the most important item in the menu (and I would invert the list to minimize cursor mileage but that is a design concept that I don’t expect to change until the mouse is replaced with eye-tracking.).
p.s.
Any insight into managing/changing/editing/resource hacking the hardware device description in general is worth money to me. I would pay a subscription fee to modify the poorly thought-out implementation. It is system wide annoying - Which Headphones (MusiCozy)? I have three and I cannot uniquely name them. And here in my daily runner, it makes the context menu align left almost to the center of my screen from the systray. It is my thumb’s tendency to scroll the cursor to the left or first character in a line selection. I do not do it from the end of the line. The f’up description as displayed requires a physical effort to correct each time it is referenced.
Just saying I would pay a subscription fee. I don’t have this challenge in linux but I am far too lazy to use linux anymore.
You have a unique product. I hope that the other things you are building are as worthwhile to others as this project is.