Win2k sound

[oscar]

Loaded win2k system sound drivers.
Can play cd from headset connection
on front of cdrom.
No sound card to install yet.
Any other way to connect speakers to system?

[glc]

The only way to get sound without a sound card that I know of is with USB speakers. You of course can plug amplified speakers into the CD jack, but that won't play system sounds, only audio CD's.

[oscar]

I have USB ports,but no USB speakers.
Does the W2k system sound do ok or is it best just to install a sound card?
Just for playing cd.
Thanks

[WJWheels]

This is an interesting topic. I've noticed my Soundblaster PCI128 is about 4X louder on win2k than on win98. Why would this be?? I have a dual boot system - same card, same mobo...

[oscar]

I've just loaded Win2k. It seems to be a good stable system.Maybe it just loads the volume
control at a higher level.
Anyway it has been fun.

[glc]

Are you trying to tell me that you can play sounds in Win2K without a sound card just by installing some sound drivers? I dont THINK so........if all you want to do is play CD's, just get a set of amplified speakers and plug them into the headphone jack on the CD drive - there ain't anywhere else to plug them in. USB speakers have sound card functionality built in, but they ain't cheap.

[Halo3]

This is a blurb from MS's Digital Sound System 80's (currently street priced at about $110) web site (http://www.microsoft.com/products/hardware/speakers/): "CD audio requires a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive capable of playing digital audio"

I may be wrong about this, but given my knowledge of hardware, I feel it necessary to say that all you will get without a sound card via the USB connection is digital audio from the CD/DVD. The other sound formats require the various hard-wired decoders that sound cards provide. I do not believe that MS's SS80 provides a software alternative to this.

In short, stick with what glc sayed, purchase speakers for the head phone jack if all you do is listen to CDs. If you are going to listen to other things, hold out, save some money, and then buy a sound card & speakers.

------------------
Semper Fi,
L.G. Huber III, MCSE/MCP+I/A+/N+

[oscar]

So the USB speakers do not support system sound?
Price Watch has them from 50 to 100+ $.
Just for playing Elvis?

[glc]

I know for a fact that the Philips USB speakers will play system sounds without a sound card. Still not worth the big bux because you can get a decent sound card and speakers for well under $100 - and the USB speakers take a BIG hit out of the CPU performance.

[Halo3]

glc:

Really? That is interesting. Unfortunately, I have not performed tech support for anyone with USB speaker system. I would assume that the hit on CPU utilization is greatly due to CPU time being taken up by software-based sound renderers/decoders.

Interesting. Thanks for the insight.

------------------
Semper Fi,
L.G. Huber III, MCSE/MCP+I/A+/N+

[glc]

halo - yeah, not only do the software renderers eat CPU cycles, the USB itself is a drain on the CPU. Kind of a double whammy here. I have a friend with the Philips setup and it's almost unusable on his 200 MMX system. He is about ready to hook up a set of conventional analog speakers to his AWE64 and dump the USB's on Ebay. They sound *great* but the minute he touches *anything* else on the system they start popping, crackling, and cutting in and out. I would assume they would work great on a 400+ MHz system as long as you aren't trying to run too much stuff at once.