How to get Skype sound working on Wheezy (7.5, 64bit)?

[Steve Litt <slitt@troubleshooters.com>]

Hi all,

I installed Skype (4.3.0.37) just fine on Wheezy, but whether or not I
have Pulseaudio and pavucontrol installed, I get no sound and the person
at the other end can't hear my voice. I have to communicate via the IRC
like interface.

Probably related is the fact that pavucontrol's "Configuration" tab
says "no cards detected" or similar, and naturally therefore the input
tab lists no microphones, even though:

=========================================================
slitt@mydesq2:~$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog
[ALC887-VD Analog] Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 2: ALC887-VD Analog
[ALC887-VD Analog] Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: U0x46d0x825 [USB Device 0x46d:0x825], device 0: USB Audio [USB
Audio] Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
slitt@mydesq2:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog
[ALC887-VD Analog] Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 1: ALC887-VD Digital
[ALC887-VD Digital] Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
slitt@mydesq2:~$ 
=========================================================

There's all sorts of BS about this on the Internet, but a lot
contradictory and a lot out of my computer's context. Anyone have an
idea of the next step?

Thanks,

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance