jkinkennon wrote:sonar11 wrote:Once you start reducing the volume of direct, to get more diffuse, you then have to modify your organ volume to compensate; but then your surround is now out of balance so you need to adjust that manually again after the fact.
This is exactly opposite of how the controls work as the balance control does not change the volume.
I'm not sure what is hard to understand about balancing the direct and diffuse ranks. As the direct/diffuse control is moved one set of ranks increases in volume as the other set of ranks decreases. The resulting volume that is output remains fixed and only the character of the sound changes. This is similar to adjusting the balance on a stereo receiver. A well designed balance control will shift the sound from the left speaker through center and on to the right speaker without changing the overall perceived volume.
If there are three controls then there is a tendency to adjust the front degree of ambiance with two controls instead of one and then possibly need to readjust the rear level or the overall volume with either all three sliders or with an overall volume control. In other words it is more "fiddly" as the controls need more interactive adjustment to produce the desired result.
It's because you're not looking at it from a "I want to adjust this" perspective; I want to sometimes add more diffuse, or less diffuse, without adjusting the direct. Direct is set exactly where I want it (maybe it's 80, maybe it's 90); but at times I want to add more or less diffuse. A three slider makes the most sense; you simply increase or decrease the exact source you're interested in.
With a balance control, it's not immediately obvious when your direct sound is being modified. Does it stay at 100% as you move it from top down to 50%, and then start to decrease as you hit 49% and lower? Or does it start being decreased immediately with the diffuse being added immediately as well? You may think it's obvious, and perhaps it is to you, but the interface does not make it clear until you've fiddled around with it for some time.
You say that a good balance control will remove the need for adjusting my main volume, but that's not the case. I'm always tweaking it afterwards. Perhaps I would be with a 3 volume system too, but with the 3 volume control you always know exactly what you're adjusting, and you never affect the level of 2 sources at one time. It's just a simpler/better system.