Certainly a better way, but my gripe above is not just with volume buttons but with other things such as EQ, panning, time delays and a million other things tha

Certainly a better way, but my gripe above is not just with volume buttons but with other things such as EQ, panning, time delays and a million other things that audio software can control. I am guessing that screen UX designers wrestle with the same constraints that physical audio hardware manufacturers to - that of space restriction, and cramming as much as they can into a given space. Hence I guess why things like recording consoles have a slider for the critical volume adjustments, but rotating knobs for other things like panning, EQ etc. above that. Volume is one thing I don't mind seeing as a vertical slider, but then would panning be a horizontal slider? I actually prefer a round knob for that because the knob position is a better resemblance of the 360deg sensory perception around my head when setting the stereo space.