I've recently installed ArchLinux on my desktop, together witht the GNOME3 Desktop. I installed pulseaudio and pavucontrol, which both seem to be very unstable. First I couldn't get my headset to work, but after changing the settings, and reverting the changes, that seemed to be fixed. I still have a problem with Pavucontrol though. When I open pavucontrol, it usually takes a few seconds to connect to the pulseaudio server, and it'll only work for say a minute and then it'll simply crash without further notice. Often it has to reconnect to the pulseaudio server at random intervals, while using the program. Further, when I move the slider to adjust my volume, the sample being played is played very quickly, and when playing sound in Firefox through flash, it'll get played fast as well. Some sounds (not flash) will simply not get played at all, or get played for a second and than simply stopping. Is there a way I can fix this? What is causing this issue? Is it Pavucontrol, Pulseaudio, Alsa or even the kernel? When I create a new (console-)session, and login as root, my headset volume will be terribly loud. (I press tab and the standard beep will play through the whole house, just from my headset). Adjusting alsamixer volumes has no effect on this.  UPDATE:After a reboot my headset simply stopped working. It is detected by Pulseaudio, but no sound can be heard. It is not muted in Alsamixer. My headset's microphone is also properly detected while plugged or not, but when it is unplugged, I can still select it (and it'll be marked as unplugged) and it'll still be receiving sounds. The sounds being received seem to be a weakened version of my internal microphone. When it is not plugged in the sound is properly received from the actual microphone. The restart also seems to have stabalized pulseaudio drastically. 
Pulseaudio and Pavucontrol very unstable
arch linux;hardware;alsa;pulseaudio