Paul - we discussed this a little bit on the CCRMA forum, but I wanted to bring the idea up a little further, and thought that perhaps on the Ardour forum may be a better idea. Even if the Ardour team wouldn’t be interested in it, perhaps someone else might be.
Initially, I had thought of an idea similar to the current studio monitor controls (big knob, central station, etc) - in which it would be simply an A/B/C switch that was set up on a software rather than hardware. As I look into possible needs, though, it may be a bit more.
On the simplest level, it is exactly that: a program that allows one master input from JACK, and then routes out to outputs in JACK to different ports on the sound cards. Then, you can set the individual output volumes so that when you switch from one set of speakers to anther, the volume doesn’t change - just the sound.
However, it can be expanded from there. Adding in a dedicated subwoofer channel would not work on its own, but in conjunction with the outputs. Then, using a LADSPA filter, can set both subwoofer level and crossover point for output A, B, C, etc.
Finally, if EQ was necessary, again, a LADSPA plugin could be placed on that particular output to smooth the response for the room.
Once all settings were in place, it could be minimized to a ribbon on the edge of the screen in which you would be able to control master volume, which speaker you wanted, and have some sort of digital VU meters.
I know this can be done inside Ardour itself, but it would be nice to have as a separate program so that you don’t need to set up the controls every time you start a new project. In addition, it could be used for any JACK compatible software without having to open a full blown session of Ardour.
I would love to start developing it myself, but my programming language skills ended with BASIC and PASCAL in the late 80s…