one day you realise you've been a total idiot. class A moron. that you've been stuck in a deep dark rabbit hole when the solution was there all along...

I play Elite Dangerous a lot (it's a space flight sim)

there's a lot of flying from point to point shuttling cargo.. courier missions etc. now as good as I find the music I want to listen to my music. but getting the balance of game and music was driving me mad.

ok I can tab out to adjust the music... but that pulls you right out of the game and you start chasing the dragons tail bouncing in and out trying to get the level for that song....

so I went down the rabbit hole. phone apps that claim to control volume... but don't do separate programs so it's all or nothing.. universal remotes that should be able to control everything.. but don't do sound... pricing mixers and cables to run the music externally...

I even went as far as starting to design my own mixer. 3 sliders, an Arduino , a USB connector.. then learning how to program my own mixer controls...

then I was listening to adam savages book "every tools a hammer" and thought a lot about what he says in there about obsessing and endlessly bogging yourself down in deep dark rabbit holes...

then my brain had this conversation with me..

Brain : you are using Foobar and you have a N52te Speedpad (programmable keypad - never without it)

Me : so?

Brain : go back and reread it dumbass

Me : oh. I program volume controls in foobar to the speedpad?

Brain " swears under its breath just try it

Me : OH it works!

Brain : Dick.

yup. been trying to find a solution to my problem for 2 YEARS. and I had it all along.... I just needed to take a step back and think.

If it's any consilation ... we ALL go through this in our lives ... and ... not just once!!! LOL!!

Music on old school stereo separates with CD player. Sound from game on PC speakers.

Refinements:

Multi channel mixer - which also serves for guitar and vocal recording duties - with PC and Stereo having separate channels.

Been using this configuration since forever.

And here I thought this was going to be a thread about Judy Hopps "rule 34". ?

Forum members reply, "Not that kind of rabbit hole, you perv!"

Sincerely,

Bill

Oh dear.

I see things haven't changed around here. Just everyone has gotten older and dafter.

you know it

now, get off my lawn!

SamTherapy posted at 4:48PM Fri, 21 June 2019 - #4352243

Music on old school stereo separates with CD player. Sound from game on PC speakers.

Refinements:

Multi channel mixer - which also serves for guitar and vocal recording duties - with PC and Stereo having separate channels.

Been using this configuration since forever.

thats the long term I think, (tho to headphones)

PC as input one, my Phone (Spotify or play music) as input 2. maaaaybe my tablet as input 3 (voice coms) to one output - headphones...

I'll get there eventually... tho by that time they may have just put a player into the game anyway....