Click on Options in the function bar below the main menu and select Project Options - Audio on the left. Here you can make settings for the behavior and properties of audio objects.
The duration for fade-in and fade-out apply to creation of new audio objects, e.g. when dragging some music from the Media Pool into the timeline. The default values are zero.
When there is a checkmark next to Show duration, the object duration is shown in the object info line.
See also