Hopefully the Outlaws with right this injustice.

Here is an example of the non choice:

You are listening to your system at reference level and the phone rings you mute the system, you pick up the phone, it's not for you, it's for your spouse. Your spouse starts talking and now what do you do? You have no choice but to wait it out. (and it's your mother in-law - how long will that take?) Turn off the system? - it will un-mute at 0dB and the next time you turn it on it will be running at 0dB, switch to another input - runs at 0dB, trying to quickly turn in down - comes on at 0dB until you frantically jab at the - button until -30 or something. If you could turn down the system while it was muted, you would then have the choice to do so, a choice that you currently do not have. That's the point I was making.