Every time I install Ubuntu, the first thing I do is turn off the login sounds.

Much to my dismay, after I turn it off by going to
System -> Preferences -> Sound -> Sounds -> uncheck "play system sounds"
There is still the drum sound at the login screen!

To turn off the drum sound, you need to go into
System -> Administration -> Login Window -> Accessibility -> uncheck "Login Screen Ready" sound

Is this sound not considered a "system sound"? It sure is a system sound in my book. Is it really there for "Accessibility"?

There should not be two places to turn off system sounds. The "Login Screen Ready" option should be moved to
System -> Preferences -> Sound -> Sounds

This is a big putoff for newcomers, I hope it can be fixed!

Idea ; enable volunteers to join in creating the theme packs

Inspiration from the request made in ;
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/10724/

Method to help realize the above inspired idea.

1) Maybe set up a branch interest group on the Ubuntu web site, for theme creation.
The Ubuntu Launchpad PPA free webspace for ubuntu projects might be suitable.

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ppas
PPA = Personal Package Archives

2) Invite people to suggest "topics" for themes.
The site then invites members to "join a team" to work on a topic.

3) Anybody can send raw material on a topic (provided they have copyright).
The team can re-use material or new material to make regular variations, updates and new themes on that topic.

More than one team can work on the same topic.

e.g. topics
Corporate - finance
Corporate - multinational trader
Corporate - manufacturer
Children - learning
Children - sports
Children - grandparents

[....]

A system new mail sound would be nice. Users wouldn't need to manually set sounds in Thunderbird, etc...

Just for clarity - I meant that there should be a system mail sound available along with the others, like login, logout, errors, warnings, etc. The sound doesn't necessarily need to be selected and provided by the distribution.

I recently switched from microsoftc**k vista to ubuntu, and well, anything is better than m$.

Something i do miss however, and NEED, is an EQ!!!

I have a razer barracuda sound card, which i can't find drivers for anything but windows, and using the supplied software i cwas able to controll universal EQ and volume, audio inputs and audio outputs, including switching from analog to digital including optical.

To be able to use my home theater system to its full potential, i really need a universal eq additional to the...very limited volume control (really needs some upgrading), and some options to switch from optical to other forms of output etc.


This is really really important as no applications seem to have adequate eq's and a universal eq would make everything simpler, and make ubuntu even more competitive to the other inferior OS's.

Please make EQ's, and...make the world a better place, for you and for me, and the rest of hum...audiophiles around the world.

english:

the text-to-speech (for disabled) software needs to be improved so that they sound more human and more accurate. idea provided by Eldmannen

sorry for my bad english

spanish:

el text-to-speech (para discapacitados)software necesita ser mejorado a fin de que el sonido más humano y más exacto. idea proporcionada por Eldmannen

Play application and system sounds with the volume and timing relative to where the sound is coming from. Yes like in games.

Suppose I'm running Compiz with three virtual desktops side by side and the middle desktop is in focus. On the right virtual desktop, Pidgin is running and generates a sound. It would be nice if the sound would seem to come from the right side.

We could take this further by muffling sounds coming from minimized applications or have compiz generate a cool wave effect (similar to the rain) that would come from the generating window - not too much, subtle but enough to provide a clue to where the sounds are coming from.

After you log in through GDM, the startup sound usually plays before anything else starts, so sometimes you hear the sound even though the desktop is not yet ready i.e. you're still staring at the brown screen and the panels haven't come up yet.

Changing the time that sound is played to right after everything is ready would be a much more useful thing, it would actually indicate when you can use the computer.

From Squiggle in the comments (a much better idea):

Play a loopable sound (8 bar blues, etc) until loading is done then when things are loaded finish with another sound indicating all is ready to go. This is the sort of thing that games do well.

Make so that you can choose a preset for an environmental audio effect so that the sound that you play sounds like its in a different environment.

So that it can simulate the acoustic surroundings of a real-life audio environment such as;
* Arena
* Auditorium
* Bathroom
* Concert hall
* Cathedral / Church
* Cave
* Forest
* Hangar
* Mountain
* Padded cell
* Stone corridor
* Underwater
etc

Since Ubuntu is now using PulseAudio, which gives volume control on an application by application basis, there is no need for multimedia programs to use their own volume control.

For instance, if I change the volume slider in Totem this shouldn't change an internal Totem volume, it should change the PulseAudio volume for Totem. The same with Rhythmbox, Amarok, etc.

Having multiple volume controls for the same thing can be really annoying, for example wanting to unmute some music and having to check the Rhythmbox volume, PulseAudio's volume for Rhythmbox, the master volume and physical speaker volume. To me the speaker and master volumes have an obvious reason to exist, but there seems to be no difference between the internal and PulseAudio volume control for Rhythmbox, hence they should be merged.

BTW I proposed this to a PulseAudio developer who said that this is one of the main reasons for having PulseAudio.

Please add the ability to configure specific additional sound effect options namely: open, close, minimize, maximize, restore, roll up, unroll windows. Maybe clean up some of the existing options that haven't changed since Gnome 1.x.

I know that some of these options exist in some form, however instead of click on menu option sound, I'd like to hear a sound for clicking on a menu item, then another when the window opened.

If possible, tie it to window manager hints so it works with any window manager used.

Obviously, make sure they can be disabled along with all of the other effects by folks that don't want GUI sounds. Maybe even leave them set to no sound or a non-annoying sound by default.