Audio issues in new VMware install

[Mach283]

Problem:  The audio keeps stuttering then dropping out completely. I then get two popups: 1) PNMixer error Warning: Connection to sound system failed. Do you wan to re-initialize the audio connection? Answer No or Yes. Selecting Yes will eventually get the audio back until it happens soon again. I also get error popups regarding grabbing Hotkeys Mute/Unmute, Volume Up, and Volume Down. Currently using MATE desktop but it looks like pnmixer is a dependency of the default openbox install .

I also get an Gtk-Message error when I enter pnmixer in terminal: Failed to load module "xapp-gtk3-module".  This is accompanied by error: ./src/alsa.c: 'default': Can't get playback dB range: Invalid argument, Alsa failed to clear the channel.

I am looking for a permanent solution. Thanks.