Pulse audio problems have virtually disappeared. It was only a problem
with some sound cards. I have never had a problem, although have seen
plenty of others who did. But reports such as yours are very few.
It likely has to do with your mixer settings or sound card driver. The
mixer is in the Preferences section of the System menu under Sound. To
find out about your equipment, type lshw in a terminal and check out
the *-multimedia section. You can share what it says under than
section and maybe that will be informative. Additional drivers may
help in the Administration menu.