Re: volume keys not working on thinkpad x201

[Theo de Raadt]

 previously on this list Alexandre Ratchov contributed:
 
  I was talking about raising initial hardware volume and lowering
  the initial software volume (current defaults are the opposite)
 
 My dads a bit of an audio junkie having built his first record player
 when he was 14 and he tells me setting PCM below maximum (75% - 90%)
 often gives a better quality or lower noise output or avoids clipping
 (ignoring clipping by idiot production crews these days competing for
 their song to be as loud as the amplified radio adverts).
 
 Whether it becomes a potentially overlooked limiter compared to
 master may need consideration. Does anyone need absolute max volume, say
 on a netbook?

Alexandre Ratchov is an audio junkie, too.

But he's commited a softwave volume control design which is completely
disconnected from the hardware volume control.

Take that for what it is.

Re: volume keys not working on thinkpad x201

[Jean-Philippe Ouellet]

On 3/24/14 7:01 AM, Alexandre Ratchov wrote:
 I was talking about raising initial hardware volume and lowering
 the initial software volume (current defaults are the opposite). I
 agree that it doesn't make sense to have everything cranked.

Not that my opinion is worth anything, but I strongly believe a
lower hardware volume seems like a much more sane default. If you
want to be /that guy/ who turns on their fire alarm^W^W laptop in
the meeting, then by all means do so, but I don't think it makes
sense to subject everyone else to it by default.

 This would allow more use-cases to be handled in software only, but
 may force those of us with noisy devices and alike (see tedu@ mail
 for more examples) to change the defaults by hand.

Sure, that's nice, but at what cost? Perhaps an FAQ entry is in order
to tell people how to raise it, but like tedu I'd rather be annoyed
than angry, and being quiet by default doesn't even really annoy me.

Re: volume keys not working on thinkpad x201

[Kent R. Spillner]

If you're trying to surf the web one handed in the basement after your family 
goes to sleep you want the hardware muted by default.