pulse audio manager works consistently for me on the highest version of the easy debian pulse libraries. i have a very vague memory of it not working the first time i tried it, so i did:

sudo /etc/init.d/pulseaudio start

from within easy debian, and it seems to have worked ever since.

i ran the mplayer command qole gave above and it worked fine.

as i said, this is all with the most recent version of everything in easy debian.

edit: also i didnt need to set any environment variables within easy debian

edit: also i don't have to run that command everytime, it's like when you run it once it sorts out it's configuration and remembers it. as a result i think i've been living in blissful ignorance that others have been having easy debian audio 'issues'