I just went through this too.  You did not mention the make of the cheap
cards you are looking at.  My mother-in-law wanted a sound card to be
able to hear music on the Internet, mostly with greeting cards.  Because
she doesn't have need for much and doesn't have a lot of money for
computer stuff, I went with a Creative Vibra 16 for about $20.  It's an
ISA card that uses the same chip that is placed on motherboards for
built-in sound and is compatible with the older SoundBlaster 16.  She
has a Pentium 100 with 32MB and runs Windows 95.

----- Original Message -----
From: Dean Kukral <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 1999 8:15 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Cheap Sound Card Sound Quality?


I have been asked to add a sound card to a system owned
by a friend on a budget.

The local dealer has some sound cards for about $20.  I
hypothesize that these cards probably would have been
state-of-the-art five years ago, and, therefore, would do
fine for her - as opposed to spending nearly $100 for a
current SB or the like, which would have all sorts of
bells and whistles that she does not need.

Am I correct, or are these cheapie sound cards likely to
turn out to be junk?  (Sound-Quality wise.)

(Her system is a P100, 32meg, Windows 3.1, DOS 6.1)

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