[LAU] Are my sound cards really dead?

I've got 2 dead sound devices and am wondering if there is any way to determine if the death is complete or a software issue? 1. My Audiophile 2496 has been working for years in my computer. A few months ago it just stopped. At the time I figured it was a software upgrade issue with pulseaudio, etc. so I pulled the card and ran with the on-board sound on my Asus motherboard. Didn't sound wonderful, but not to bad ... and I really did intend to upgrade the software "real soon" so I just lived with it. Until today... 2. the on board sound on the Asus MB decided that "white noise" was much more appreciated by me than the Ornette Coleman which I was playing. Okay, it might be right ... but several reboots later it was still insisting on static. So, I reinstalled the 2496 but it refuses to output anything. Even tried with the envy24control program and was unable to get any bars to show any activity. Ended up by installing a cheap soundblaster card from the bottom of my junk box. It's playing right now, and it's not great, but not really awful. So, any way to see if either the on board or the 2496 has any life left in them? Failing that, what's the current recommended consumer grade card? I'll probably never use the inputs on the card for recording. -- **** Listen to my CD at http://www.mellowood.ca/music/cedars **** Bob van der Poel ** Wynndel, British Columbia, CANADA ** EMAIL: bob(a)mellowood.ca WWW: http://www.mellowood.ca