My motherboard has a built in sound chip AC97 Audi Codec (AC97 2.1) Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro compatible. I'm using mp3 currently installed in both FC1 and FC2. (But the results are the same with other formats.) With FC1 XMMS/Rhythmbox/Soundcard detection work okay but with FC2 when I *first* start XMMS the volume level is always 100% and the sound blows even my weedy speakers into the next garden! So I have to quickly reduce it to about 50% to listen in comfort. But after closing and restaring XMMS the sound level is set to the previous input I used. But Rhythmbox (aka Music Player) is so quiet I can hardly hear it even with the external speakers volume turned up full. If I reduce the Sound Controls Master level to stop XMMS blasting my eardrums then I have no chance with Rhythmbox. Running the Soundcard detection utility does not produce the sound test tones. To keep the size of this message down I've added some possible pertinent notes at http://davidstone.co.uk/text/soundprobs.html They are just my notes so sorry no Flash etc :) I wondered if it was a difference in the two sound modules causing the problem. It's via82cxxx-audio in FC2 but snd-via82xx in FC2. -- Dave