Tom Fine wrote: > 4. The situation I described above with the Soundblaster card was also true > with my old Dell 4100 box I used to use for video, so it seems to be a > standard problem with that card, either all of them or my specific unit. As > I said, no problems with an older/cheaper Ensoniq card in my workshop > computer, which is a homebrew amalgam of castoff parts and is probably very > noisy and hashy inside since it's in tight quarters and has two extra > cooling fans, a separate IDE card, 4 hard drives and a CD burner. That > Ensoniq problem has no issues going unbalanced out to the unbalanced in of > my preamp in the workshop. Since the speakers for that system are right over > my workbench, I hear hum and hash loud and clear if there is any. So, again, > I'd say it's bad manufacturing practice on the part of some or many card > makers that lead to this assertion that quiet audio _can't_ come from an > internal card. A few years ago, Creative bought Ensoniq. They butchered the circuitry for the "Live Value" and degraded it somewhat for the "Live". The original Ensoniq PCI Audio was a superb card for general use and a remarkable bargain at about $25. Unfortunately, the Win2K drivers were poor and it's hopeless in XP. So much for 'progress'. Mike -- [log in to unmask] http://www.mrichter.com/