Way back when I bought this computer the guy made a bit of a big deal about it having on board sound which he claimed was far better than any sound card. At the time I didn't really care and plugged in my cheap, tinny speakers.

Now I'm curious. Is on board sound better than a sound card? As a last resort I read the manual for the systemboard (PC100 M761zx). This suggests that to obtain 'surround' sound I need only plug in a pair of speakers to each of the line in and line out ports. No big base speaker required?

Any ideas?

Flinty, Flinty! Do you need me everywhere you go? On board sound has the 'potential' for their claims - until you try to do it. It's at best iffy, at worst its yuk!

I run Sound Blaster Live and its amazing what you can do with it, you cannot get such a thing 'on board'. Still there is a certain quality isn't there with your one?

Sorry to be a wet! Oh no! I'm saving that till Friday.

On-board sound is normally a SB16 or clone chip. Equivalent of a cheap £15-20 card.

If you only want to play games/listen to radio it is more than adequate. If you want good music, wave, bass etc - buy a decent card.

ORAC,

Thanks for the polite and informative response.

IFR,
I'll see you later pal