Very happy with what I’ve seen from Audacity 4 so far.
There is just 1 point I find extremely tiring in other audio software (in DAWs, especially with 3rd party plugins): those little control/turning knobs. They are amazing in real life but appalling on computers with keyboard and mouse/trackpad: whichever way you need to interact with them is either pointless (e.g. if clicking on them allow you to type a value in) or frustrating (perfect rotary motion or click on a tiny, subpart of an already tiny 16x16 pixel widget).
I know they look good and I’m not sure if they are used as display elements or as controls, but if it’s the latter, please consider user experience with a mouse or trackpad.
Some plug-ins emulate a specific piece of vintage analog equipment and usually they copy the appearance but they could easily add a linear slider as an optional way to rotate the knobs.
Well, that’s a relief that I won’t have to be pixel perfect on these, I’m not gonna lie.
I’m really not sure about the principle of a vertical slider disguising as rotary dial though but I’d have to actually try it before judging…
What I’m going to say is very tongue-in-cheek so don’t mind me, but if size is of importance, I can see a huge “Effects” button begging to be axed… The good thing with a button is that the only interaction you need to have with them is a click… But I’ll stop there: I need to give it a try.
Mapping a curve (i.e. a rotary control) to a line is not quite “linear” or even if you’ve managed to compensate for rate of change of a curve, the human mind operating the control will still find it hard to follow.
Another reason for the pan knob specifically is identity: In user tests (and frankly, in my own use) of Audacity 3, people would confuse pan and volume and move one when they meant to move the other. Giving the two distinct shapes eliminates this source of confusion.
@BadUpdatesEverywhere We also show numbers while you adjust the value. You can adjust things, easily. I’d also like to say that you in particular should reserve your judgement until after you’ve had a chance to test it. If you’re gonna bemoan every change we make because of some hypothetical concerns, I’ll ban you, as you’re adding nothing of value to the discussion.
But I’ll stop there: I need to give it a try.