Bug 514038

Created attachment 188131 [details]
Screenshots showing the confusion

SUMMARY

In the KDE Systems Settings on the Sound page, there is a drop down *per input/output device* for the "Profile", with values such as "Analog Stereo Duplex". The UI here is confusing, as this setting really isn't per device, but tied together. For example: changing "Analog Stereo Duplex" on the laptop speakers output to "Analog Stereo Output" *removes* the "Internal Microphone" input. If you happen to change this by mistake, it isn't obvious that you need to change a setting on your speakers to get your microphone back. See attached screenshots.

Contrast this with pavucontrol, where the profile setting for "Built in Audio" is on a separate tab entirely, and not duplicated twice. This makes it more obvious that it is a setting that might be relevant to your troubleshooting.

I would recommend that the profiles are moved into a separate section from the devices, since there isn't a 1:1 mapping and entries can appear and disappear randomly as you change profile.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Change profile in sound settings
2. Become very confused when your microphone disappears and you can't find where to re-enable it.
3. End up filing a pipewire bug report (https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/-/issues/5051), even though it was just confusing UX.

OBSERVED RESULT
Inputs disappear in the list and it isn't obvious that you need to change a setting on an output (which is working) to get things fixed.

EXPECTED RESULT
A less confusing user experience.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.21.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION