I have just installed linux mint 13 and I haven't used linux before so I apologise upfront if this question seems basic. I am unable to hear any form of audio on file which I try to play in any "media playing" application but I am not sure why.

When I log onto the system I get the start-up sound (before entering login details). I can hear audio from my speakers if I right click the speaker icon, select "Sound preferences" > Hardware > select my speakers from the device list and click test speakers. I am also able to hear audio on sites such as youtube.

I have run this command 

```
lspci -v | grep -A7 -i "audio"

```

and I got two results returned as follows:

```
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation X79 series chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 84f8
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 112
Memory at fa720000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

--
02:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF110 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device 3515
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 28
Memory at fa080000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

```

Which I *think* means my sound card (which is integrated on a Rampage IV Extreme mobo) should be ok.

What I think might be happening is that the applications such as VLC, Banshee, Totem movie player etc might be reading the default audio output device from a different place than the mint install itself is. I am basing this on the fact that when I first installed the system a week or so ago no sound would play and I had to go to Sound preferences > Output and select my speakers from the list as the default choice was "Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo", once I made this change system sounds would play but not any media files such as songs or movies. Therefore I reckon that maybe the applications are still trying to output audio through the "Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo" instead of my speakers.

This is driving me a little bit insane now and any help would be greatly appreciated. My theory is just a theory (I have no previous experience using linux) so any ideas or suggestions are welcome. If any more information is needed, let me know and I can provide it.