Run two alsa applications which using hw device, hwmixvolume allow you to change the subdevice PCM volume controls which dB range allow gain in addition to attenuation
For any pulse application, it just control by the subdevice opened by pulseaudio server
The hardware mixed signal are pass through your ac97 codec mixer, pcm playback and master volume for all applications
Run two alsa applications which using hw device, hwmixvolume allow you to change the subdevice PCM volume controls which dB range allow gain in addition to attenuation
For any pulse application, it just control by the subdevice opened by pulseaudio server
The hardware mixed signal are pass through your ac97 codec mixer, pcm playback and master volume for all applications