Changing the audio output in VLC makes the audio unaccessible via the Unity app menu volume --Precise

[Chascon]

Problem:
Changing the audio output in VLC makes the audio unaccessible via the Unity app menu volume

Or to put it another way, I can't control the audio using the app menu after changing the selected output sound device from the VLC app menu.

Circumstances under which the bug manifests:
I use two sound cards, the internal and an external USB iMic. I've noticed the the problem when going from the internal sound card to the iMic.

Work around:
1. Open the audio from the preference pane,
2. select the appropriate output and
3. adjust volume sliding knob therein.

Additional info:
I'm running an upgraded Precise install.

Running the following commands lists the results thereafter, with the iMic unplugged.
dmesg | grep sound
HDA Intel SPDIF

lspci | grep -i audio
Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)

[Bilal Akhtar (bilalakhtar)]

Seems like an issue with VLC, and how it manages the output switch.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont (rdenis)]

Changing the audio output in VLC to anything other than Default or PulseAudio will remove the PulseAudio sink input of VLC. That's the whole point. Don't do that.