espeakup and sound cards?

[Kyle]

Yes, alsactl store does work,. Sorry, I was referring to using a live CD 
or talking install. Once I get the volumes set, things work as they 
should, but on first boot of a new install, talking install or live CD 
of any kind, my sound starts muted, and this even happens on Ubuntu, 
where pulseaudio is supposed to be up and running by default. The 
soundblaster is the only card that does this, however. If I remove the 
soundblaster, the onboard soundcard seems to work just a bit better. I 
will probably be taking out the soundblaster soon, but I need to find 
the cover for its slot, since I seem to have misplaced it.