[pulseaudio-tickets] [Bug 46466] New: PulseAudio needs a way for the user to set inviolable maximum volume

[bugzilla-daemon at freedesktop.org]

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=46466

             Bug #: 46466
           Summary: PulseAudio needs a way for the user to set inviolable
                    maximum volume
    Classification: Unclassified
           Product: PulseAudio
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: All
        OS/Version: All
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: medium
         Component: misc
        AssignedTo: pulseaudio-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
        ReportedBy: aeikum at codeweavers.com
         QAContact: pulseaudio-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
                CC: lennart at poettering.net


Without flat volumes, this is trivial. It's called the device volume. Play a
very loud stream with stream volume at 100% and set your device volume down
until it's reasonable. It is now impossible for any stream to deafen the user,
no matter its volume.

With flat volumes enabled, as is the default for PulseAudio, this is currently
impossible to achieve.

The following sequence will deafen users, in my opinion unexpectedly:

1) Open a very loud stream
2) Drag the device volume down to 20% or something reasonable. This will also
set your stream volume to 20%.
3) Close stream 1
4) Open a quiet stream
5) In pavucontrol, notice that the quiet stream is at 20%. Drag it up to 50% or
something, where you can hear it
6) Close stream 2
7) Re-open the very loud stream
8) Visit your doctor to get hearing aids

Disabling flat volumes by default would solve this problem. This is what I've
done on my machine.

See also:
https://features.opensuse.org/310668
http://pulseaudio.org/ticket/949

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