======= Definition of flat-volumes from [1] : it scales the device-volume with the volume of the "loudest" application. For example, raising the VoIP call volume will raise the hardware volume and adjust the music-player volume so it stays where it was, without having to lower the volume of the music-player manually. =======
Today I had a scary experience with the audio of my computer. I was listening to music with Amarok, using my headphones... The KMix volume level was ~ 35%. When I logged into a video conference application, the volume suddenly reached the 100%. I was shocked, having the maximum audio level shooted in your ears is a painful experience. The conference application that triggered PulseAudio pushing volume to maximum level probably should have never asked the system for a 100% audio level, but on the other hand, PulseAudio should never allow an application to make such sudden changes. To avoid that, you have to set flat-volumes = no in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf I found many users stories complaining about this default setting [2] [3] [4] and you can easily find other by searching "pulseaudio flat volumes". I completely agree with user gaggra comment at [3] <<This is an interesting issue because it is one of the rare times misbehaving software can /physically hurt you/. You would think that once that was understood, the design of this sort of behaviour would be treated in a very conservative, careful manner.>> Moreover this default setting can cause sound crackling [5]. So I would like to start a discussion about disabling this default behaviour for the mentioned reasons. [1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PulseAudio [2] https://major.io/2015/06/08/pulseaudio-popping-with-multiple-sounds-in-fedora-22/ [3] https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/2rjiaa/horrible_decisions_flat_volumes_in_pulseaudio_a/ [4] http://awesomelinux.blogspot.it/2013/06/pulseaudios-dynamic-volume-levels-are.html [5] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1264177
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