Hello again,

Well, I'm sure it makes sense to the computer's brain, but seem quirky and arbitrary to me, but not only did the MS Wavetable and the Audigy Sw Synth play, but those listed in SBFM, also. I haven't tried WMP or the Creative player yet.

The only thing I did, just before giving up a few hours ago, was to enable those annoying Windows sounds (as I remembered when I got a thunk when I released a slider in the SB mixer). I enabled them as part of a troubleshooting test and forgot to disable them again.

The only problem is that midi playback again sounds like a very well used old record, in terms of the pops, not the instrument sound. I have tried enabling/disabling/adjusting the graphic equalizer, EAX effects, etc., but can't get rid of them. Again, these pops are ONLY in midi playback, not wav or mp3.

all best,
mgj