[ale] Let's discuss audio settings - why all the volume controls?!

[Allen Beddingfield]

Something that drives me crazy is the number of places for adjusting the volume on a PC.
For example, I'm currently listening to MP3s with Clementine player.

1.  There is a volume control in the player
2.  There is a volume control on the audio applet at the bottom of the screen
3.  My speakers have a volume knob
4.  If I click the "mixer" button on the audio applet, there is an individual volume level for each running application, and "system sounds"

That makes FOUR places to change the volume.  What do you do?
Crank all the software volume controls to 100%, and change the volume with the mechanical knob?  Set them all at 50% and use the mechanical knob?  Set the mechanical knob to some sane midpoint, and control the volume with a software control (which one?)
Is there an officially recommended procedure?
What's the purpose of all of these?

Allen B.

--
Allen Beddingfield
Systems Engineer
Office of Information Technology
The University of Alabama
Office 205-348-2251
allen at ua.edu