Thanks to EVERYONE who responded for your informative responses. Lot's of interesting choices for sure. The Yamaha SW1000XG card sounds like the best XG soundcard option, but because it's not longer sold or supported by Yamaha, I'm not very enthusiastic about that option. It appears that the only 1/2 decent sounding internal computer midi sound source only option may be with a software synth or sound fonts, but I concerned over how much CPU memory sources this takes up. I assume that with a 3 Gigahertz CPU (Windows XP) and 1 GB RAM this should'nt be an issue, right? If not , I guess it's time to explore the "Software Synth" and/or "SoundFont Libraries" options available. I need something that includes BOTH GM/GS & XG midi sound tables.

Currently most of my computer played back midi file istrument voices sound really cheesy, so I primarily need something (soundsynth, soundfont, or midi sound card) to more accurately (realistically) hear, and more conveniently playback (thru my computer alone) website accessed & internet downloaded GM/XG midi files.


Scott