Comment 3 for bug 559939

I am having the same problem with the same USB sound adapter!
I am using ubuntu 11.04 and the bug description mentioned above applies to me as well.
Also, I can confirm the comment by Markus, ie. using IEC958 allows me to have control over the volume!

The Gnome Alsa Mixer does not show any controls at all!

The sound is distorted unless I turn down my external speakers (Amplified) in order to reduce the distortion!
It seems the sound level from this USB device is rather high for such active speakers.

I hope something could be done to make this device more useful.