Even this cannot adjust volume levels independently for multiple tabs in the same browser, which I have always been able to do on linux with pulseaudio/pipewire. People on windows use browser extensions for this, with full access to all tabs/sites...

Every time I try to build a castle in my swamp, it gets to a certain height and then it just sinks?

STOP telling me about civil engineering, we fucking invented that shit. And NO, we have to build it in the swamp, it feeds us and keeps us safe, and I'm darned proud to say we invented that too.

Thanks, I actually didn't realize that my basically stock Linux install already did this

What makes that nicer than the built in volume mixer?

Per-app mixing on the first-level menu. I like SoundSource on macOS for the same reason: https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/

I right click the volume icon in Windows, select "Volume Mixer", and it gives me per-app mixing. Which I guess is an extra click, as with eartrumpet you can access the mixer with a single left click on the icon.

had to stop using eartrumpet cos it kept randomly pulling the cpu to near 100%. updating didnt help