A game's audio menu should let you save more than one personal mix. Give me a few named profiles for the same game, with an obvious way to switch between them, rather than asking me to remember which combination of sliders worked last time.
This isn't a request for another collection of mysterious sound presets. I want to save decisions I've already made: how prominent I want dialogue, how much music I want beneath it, and how restrained I want effects to be for a particular evening. Those choices shouldn't have to become a permanent compromise just because I play the same game in different circumstances.
Save the situation, not just the equipment
Imagine playing a story-heavy game through speakers on a Saturday afternoon. You find a balance you enjoy. Later, someone else is working in the room, so you put on headphones and make a few changes. The next evening, you're back on speakers and trying to reconstruct the first mix.
The useful feature here would be a pair of entries called “Speakers” and “Headphones,” both saved by you. Choose one, check the volume, and carry on. Neither entry needs to claim that it offers the objectively correct sound for that equipment.
In fact, equipment alone would be too narrow a way to organize this. You might want one speaker mix when playing alone and another when sharing the room. Or you might keep music prominent during exploration, then prefer less of it during a session focused on reading and conversation. “Shared evening” could be a more useful label than the name of a headset.
That's why I'd rather name profiles myself than have the game infer my intentions. Connecting headphones doesn't tell a game whether I want the mix I used yesterday. Nor should changing an output silently raise a volume setting I deliberately lowered. A saved mix should be an option I choose, with its contents visible before I apply it.
Keep the controls understandable
The first version of this feature could be modest: a few slots, a name, a save button and a clear indication of which profile is active. If I adjust a slider afterward, mark the mix as changed. Let me save those changes or return to the stored version without wondering whether I've already overwritten it.
Copying a profile would matter, too. Starting from a mix you like is a sensible way to make a quieter alternative. You shouldn't need to transcribe every value before experimenting. Deleting one should never remove the game's original defaults, and restoring those defaults shouldn't erase your other saved profiles.
There are limits worth respecting. I'd keep this focused on the game's own mix controls, not promise to capture every setting on the console, television, receiver or headset. A profile that pretends to describe the whole setup would create more confusion than it solves. Its label should explain exactly what it remembers.
I'd also keep subtitles and visual accessibility settings separate unless the player deliberately chooses to include them. Wanting less music isn't a reason to change text size. A convenient audio switch shouldn't quietly become a bundle of unrelated preferences.
For developers, the strongest objection is another layer in a menu that needs to stay simple. That's fair. The ordinary sliders should remain available immediately; saving a profile could be an optional action beneath them. Players who want to set the sound once should never have to learn a profile system first.
Make a useful record in the meantime
If you find yourself rebuilding a mix, try keeping a small record of the settings that suit each situation. Where your game and platform let you capture the menu, a screenshot can do the job. Otherwise, a short note with the relevant slider values is enough. Label it by game and situation so it still makes sense when you return.
Change one setting at a time when finding an alternative, and write down what you were trying to improve. “Less music during dialogue” is a better reminder than an unexplained row of numbers. Treat that note as your preference, not a recommendation everyone else should copy.
The point of saved audio profiles wouldn't be to make every play session a sound-engineering project. It would be to stop a little setup work from becoming repeated setup work. If you already have a mix you like, keep a record before changing it. And when games offer more control over sound, remembering two useful arrangements should be part of the design, not something players have to manage outside it.