Issues with the UI redesign

[pitermach]

Hi,

First of all, I absolutely love this app. It's by far the most powerful Windows utility to record or send audio from an application. I have mostly used a build before the major UI redesign, which I had completely missed until someone reached out to me to see if I had the previous version. So, I got the update and I have thoughts. :)

The first UI, though having a lot of controls, was I think relatively easy to use. The tab order made sense for the most part and it wasn't too difficult to figure out where everything was. The new layout also has some cool things going for it, my favorite new addition being the ability to set different volume levels for each process or capture multiple input devices. However, there are some aspects where I think it makes the app more difficult to use.

• The combined sources list - I think applications and input devices should have separate lists. This is because in the previous version you could easily set a microphone to capture, and then adjust the process list filter without worrying you'll lose the changes. The new UI basically forces you into using the all processes view if you want to capture microphones, because if you filter the list to only show processes playing audio any microphones you selected will silently just be unchecked.
• Tab order makes no sense - For example in the previous version if you wanted to find the option to only show processes that are playing audio it was 2 tabs away, past a refresh button. In the new version it's either 5 Shift+Tabs or 7 tabs. Options to set the bitrate for a selected file format are also similarly far away.
• A couple of labels could be clearer, for example the combo boxes to filter the lists.
• Some hotkeys are duplicated, notably both "Start capture" and "Skip silence" are mapped to Alt+S. When capture is started, the Stop button doesn't have a mapping at all, where it would probably make sense for it to also use Alt+S for consistency. Then, some controls that I think could actually use a hotkey, notably the lists for inputs and outputs, don't have one.

[slannon97]

I completely agree with this. The UI is far more confusing than prior versions, and there doesn't seem to be a way to filter the process list by only the ones that are actively producing audio. Instead, you have to navigate through everything and determine which ones to use.
It would also be very useful if refresh operations didn't cause the currently selected sources and destinations to be disabled unless they disappear.

[masonasons]

Hi guys, I've finally come back around to this project. I've reverted the code back to the commit on October 12, right before the interface redesign.

[slannon97]

Thanks! This UI is much better. However, I lost the ability to add my microphone to the mix so it goes to a monitor device. If possible, consider adding a separate list of input devices or alternatively, list them below system audio so they can be checked or unchecked as desired. This also has the added benefit of letting you use multiple input devices if you need to.
It would also be nice if you could change the program behavior so checking a source would immediately add it to the recording/monitoring process in real-time. Currently, you have to check the new source, and then select the start capture button again.

[masonasons]

Yeah, see so when I started trying to do stuff like that with the new UI, that's when stuff really started breaking, so I'm hesitant.