I like this post. I'm always intrigued when there is a question about something that's been assumed for a long time.

The default 80% has been fine for me for 25 years with no trouble. Yes, I sometimes adjust individual notes as you mentioned, but for a typical whole note, I am pretty happy with the default on horns and I use trumpet/alto or tenor sax on most tunes. [I do use a pretty nice hardware synth, and the reverb tends to make the note seem a bit longer.]

I could see a nice Wishlist post out of this, though. Add a setting for Duration that could be adjusted on the main screen. A number, or a slider perhaps. It would adjust the channel that is currently selected.

An alternative would be an icon that takes you to the Options, Preferences, Notation, More dialog that contains more fine-tuning controls than would be practical on the main screen. My normal notation program also has just such an adjustment. It asks how short I want a staccato note to be played, for example. The default is 75% but I changed it to 40%. I like that level of control rather than specifying a few choices such as legato, staccato etc.

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.