DYNEX USB Headset no sound

Question

Hello everyone,
I plugged in my DYNEX USB headset for the first time using ARCH linux, and I have no sound.
Things I did to try and make it work:
     -It was recognized in alsamixer's sound card selection. I selected the card.
     -I unmuted the master sound in alsa by using the command: amixer sset Master unmute.
     -I used pavucontrol to select the headset
Anyone have any ideas why i am not getting any sound?

Answer 1

Better bouble check if it is unmuted and volume not 0 - not just "alsa master" like you did with amixer; it's probably best if you select the card in alsamixer (F6 or something) and check the channels.  You can save those settings with "alsactl store".
Do you have sound if you select the headset for an application stream manually?
( p.E. start video in mplayer, look for it in pavucontrol under playback / applications, set its sink to the headset )
If that works  the easiest way to get it working permanently might be:
- activate module-combine at the the TOP of /etc/pulse/default.pa MANUALLY (it tends to map channels wrong if you have more than 2; also that should ensure that the combine sink is always at the top, which can avoid some trouble).
e.g.
load-module module-combine channels=6 channel_map=front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe
( surround example; customize for your channels )
- delete the default / per application settings in ~/.pulse/* (in my experience those get rather useless in any case after a new sound device is added)
- make sure your combined sink is at the top with  "pacmd list-sinks"
example:
$ pacmd list-sinks | head
4 sink(s) available.
* index: 0
name: <combined>
driver: <module-combine-sink.c>
flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY
state: RUNNING
suspend cause:
priority: 1000
volume: front-left: 45864 / 70% / -9,30 dB, front-right: 45864 / 70% / -9,30 dB, rear-left: 45864 / 70% / -9,30 dB, rear-right: 45864 / 70% / -9,30 dB, front-center: 45864 / 70% / -9,30 dB, lfe: 45864 / 70% / -9,30 dB
- make it the default sink:
pacmd set-default-sink "combined"
You might have to "killall pulseaudio" before / in between steps to make sure it reloads settings / doesn't change them back etc.
Good luck!