Isn't it enough to show input sliders if apps are recording audio?
Does it make sense to change the input volume even if nothing is acquiring?

If you're acquiring audio, you won't change the volume while doing it, showing beforehand with a "trick" makes sense.

(In reply to comment #0)
> Similar to the suspend/shutdown option I propose to expand the volume menu to
> include input and output volume sliders if the icon in the top bar has been
> clicked with <alt> modifier pressed.

One thing I like about the <alt> trick for suspend/shutdown is that I'm allowed to change my mind while the menu is open. Would be nice if this switch worked the same, though I see the design difficulty, as we add an addition item rather than change an existing one ...

Florian we may need an animation in that case, considering that the important bit of that dropdown is the main volume slider, moving the audio setting entry live when pressing alt won't be a major annoyance and for consistence it with the other behaviour it could be done probably. Jakub will surelly figure out a cool animation in case it's needed, right? :-)

(In reply to comment #2)
> If you're acquiring audio, you won't change the volume while doing it, showing
> beforehand with a "trick" makes sense.

It should be shown whenever there is an application that records audio, not just when actually recording. If you're not running such an app, and don't plan to run one, I fail to see the use of changing input volume.

Btw I think that slider is more useful for voice call, when you can change volume in process. For music or voice recording you probably have some post-process phase in which you can adjust audio settings, as well as some more advanced configuration in the app itself.

More than one slider in the menu feels wrong IMO and actually makes it harder to implement the behavior I proposed on bug 649586 (btw, designer input there appreciated!).

I think we should keep things simple and always display one slider. If the menu is opened while pressing Alt then show the input slider instead of the output one.

I actually think the "outdated design" is better than what we have now. I think the volume "menu" should only have a volume slider and have it vertically by default. Going to the sound preferences is something I would put in the <alt>ernative (and show both input and output sliders horizontally).

Since preferences are shown at the bottom of every menu, we'd lose consistency if we hide it from the sound menu. I see no reason to special-case it, do you? You're probably as likely to need changing sound settings than e.g. power settings (esp. to tweak headphones, etc.).

Nowadays we have a microphone slider in the system menu when a microphone is in use. I don't think we need this any more, but correct me if I'm wrong.