Problem with volume control on Intel Mac Mini

The problem is that the volume control defaults to PCM as the item to control, but on the Mac Mini the volume is controlled by an item called Front. Now I was able to change this in the main volume control on my menu bar, but what I want is to change it for the keyboard shortcuts. I'm running the Apple basic keyboard with volume and mute controls on it. Now Dapper recognizes these controls and displays on the screen when I use them, but no effect is made on the volume. I suspect this is because they are altering the PCM, rather than Front channels like the main volume control did by default.

So how do I change this to alter the Front channel?

I don't have access to it at the moment, but on my iMac, in the sound properties (Right-click on volume control icon) there was an option to set the default sound channel or something along those lines. This makes that channel (front) the default for adjusting the volume.