no it is not. the sound system has to work. using a specific sound server limits you to using programs that work with given sound server. that's what I call useless (as a general solution, some might find it useful). and btw last time I tried (iirc esd) the sound wuality was poor compared to sound going straight to sound card (pentium 1GHz, sb awe). also - why should there be any difference between professional and non-professional software? should peopole who are not in studio not be able to record? should the mp3 player be worse when you are not being for listening to it? or? obviously the style of work of professional is different but that doesn't mean that the programs for non-professional use should be of lesser quality. in other words: everything (talking about infrastructure, not each individual application) should be suitable for professional use (the point: if the sound server is not for professional work than it's not for amateur work either). why "only". think of s/only/also/ professional system or not, I would expect it to be capable running browser and mp3 player at the same time (even though I would not expect this capability to be used in studio work). erik