I have 2 and sometimes 3 sound outputs on my laptop(3rd being usb headset). But it will only play out of whatever it on /proc/asound/card0. So in order to play through the headset it has to be plugged in on boot. then when I unplug it i have to reboot. I'm not able to find any way to change this other than possibly renaming the files and symlinking to the one I want manually. Does anyone know how to switch using a gui interface in KDE? or better yet default to on board unless /proc/asound/card1(usb heatset0) is available and switch automatically when I plug it in or unplug it?

KDE does have sound configuration in its control centre. The catch is that it configures phonon, not alsa, so it only switches for qt applications.

Ok, then what utility would I use to switch between audio devices while running(command line or gui)?