This is most definetly a pulse audio bug. I managed to work arround this bug and keep pulse audio (and it fully works!). What I did was the following:
1.) Remove pulseaudio by removing the "pulseaudio"-package and all its dependencies in Synaptic and reboot. 2.) Download asoundconf utility for ubuntu karmic from here: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~crimsun/asoundconf-ui/asoundconf-trunk/annotate/head%3A/asoundconf 3.) Run asoundconf and select soundblaster X-Fi as your default sound card 4.) Update your ~/.asoundrc file (see attachment. Make sure to adapt the "/home/darth-tux" line to point to your home-folder!!) 5.) Run "speaker-test -Dsurround51 -c6 -twav" and see that all 6 surround channels do work. If they don't: run "alsamixer" and verify that all channels are unmuted and at 100 % (You can mute / unmute by selecting a channel and then pressing "m") 6.) Reinstall Pulseaudio by reinstalling the "ubuntu-desktop" package (which has all pulse-audio dependencies) 7.) Uncomment / add the following in your /etc/pulse/daemon.conf: default-sample-channels = 6 resample-method = speex-float-3 enable-remixing = yes enable-lfe-remixing = yes 8.)Reboot. If the sound is still weird at the login screen when it comes up: don't panic ;-). 9.) Right click the speaker symbol under gnome, select "audio settings" and make sure that "Analog Surround 5.1 Output" is selected in the "Hardware"-Tab. 10.) Audio should now work fine even when lowering the volume. However: The login screen sounds will keep sounding weird. I'd recommend to simply disable them. Let me know whether or not this works for you. It certainly did work for me. I now have Full 5.1 surround sound, and even the subwoofer works fine when playing stereo music. My soundcard is an Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer (PCI). ** Attachment added: "asoundrc" http://launchpadlibrarian.net/39337903/asoundrc -- Surround sound with Creative Labs X-fi is pitched and static https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/473322 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs