espeakup and usb soundcards

[Kyle]

Espeakup is not using Pulseaudio, whereas GNOME is. You will need to
reconfigure the sound card that Alsa uses by default by editing
/etc/asound.conf. There may be a way to force eSpeak or Espeakup to
output through the USB speakers, but editing /etc/asound.conf is
probably the easiest thing to do. You can then use standard Pulseaudio
tools to move all the GNOME stuff where you want it.
~Kyle
http://kyle.tk/
-- 
"Kyle? ... She calls her cake, Kyle?"
Out of This World, season 2 episode 21 - "The Amazing Evie"