PA has been working on some embellishments to bufscale (which was originally hacked out just to solve a single problem), and then there will follow the ritual dance where we negotiate about much can be pushed into an single object vs split out into other things. I’m still resistant to the idea that we divert much energy into providing a whole suite of every imaginable operation for buffers because, in Max at least, there are other ways of doing it (ears, gen-without-a-tilde, and then js or jitter for the non-scheduler-bound). But, again, I don’t feel that dB or MIDI pitch conversion are especially general, rather that they’re quite specific to working with particular descriptors in particular ways.
All I’m saying any differently to other times we’ve had this conversation is that I can see how list versions might be achieved. Everything else – including acknowledging the desirability of working with lists when it makes sense – is the same.