Device pairs

A device pair is one playback device and one recording device. Either side may be Keep current, which leaves that side of the application's audio untouched.

Pairs are the unit an App Rule applies:

Automatic mode uses the first pair only.
Hotkey mode cycles through every pair in order.

A pair can be one-sided

Playback	Recording	Result
Headset	Microphone	Switch both sides.
Speakers	Keep current	Switch playback only; recording stays where it is.
Keep current	Line In	Switch recording only; playback stays where it is.
Keep current	Keep current	Invalid. A pair must set at least one side.

A rule must contain at least one valid pair. Automatic rules are normalized to exactly one pair when saved.

The pair builder

In Hotkey mode, the Hotkey section contains the shortcut field and a device-pair builder:

A playback combo and a recording combo, both including Keep current.
Add pair / Update pair.
New pair.
Remove, Move up, and Move down.
An ordered list with #, Playback, and Recording columns.

Add a pair

Choose a playback device, a recording device, or both in the builder combos.
Click Add pair.

The pair is appended to the list and selected.

Edit a pair

Select the pair in the list. Its devices load into the builder.
Change either combo.
Click Update pair.

Start a new pair

Click New pair to clear the selection and reset both builder combos to Keep current. The button then reads Add pair again.

Remove or reorder

Select a pair and click Remove.
Use Move up / Move down to change the cycle order. The first row is the pair Automatic mode would use.

Automatic mode applies DevicePairs[0] whenever the application matches. The editor shows only the single playback and recording combos, not the pair list. If you switch a Hotkey rule with several pairs to Automatic, SoundSwitch asks for confirmation and keeps only the first pair.

Hotkey

Every press applies the next pair in list order and wraps after the last one. The current pair is shown in the notification (if the rule's Notify when triggered option is on). See Hotkey mode for the full cycling rules.

Mode switching

Automatic → Hotkey: the current single pair seeds the list. You can then add more pairs.
Hotkey → Automatic: the first pair is copied into the single-device combos. If the rule has more than one pair, a confirmation explains that Automatic uses only the first pair and the others will be removed. Cancelling keeps Hotkey mode.

How pairs appear in the App Rules list

The list has one row per rule:

Playback and Recording show the first pair.
Mode shows Automatic or Hotkey. A Hotkey rule with several pairs shows the count, for example Hotkey (3).
Hover the row to see every pair in a tooltip.

Device resolution

Pairs store a device identity, not just a display name. When applying a pair, SoundSwitch resolves each side against the currently active devices:

exact device id,
the same device-instance path,
a unique device name.

If a device gets a new id after a driver update, the stored identity is updated automatically. If a device is unplugged, that side is skipped until it is available again. Ambiguously named devices are never guessed; the affected side is skipped and the rule is flagged in the App Rules list.