have to say forget the swg card..way TOO much latency, though not bad sounds...i've got to say i believe the best sounds for general smf playback come from the roland GS modules, which btw also sound decent in just the gm format as well. XG sounds overall,imho, are thin and not very exciting..if you are into the virtual instruments scott why not look at the Roland VSC from edirol..it comes bundled with things like home studio and such but is available as a standalone, I have a copy here somewhere which i could email you if you like..aprt from that the Creative Audigy 2 Pro has some really good and useabel "soundfonts"..if you want cheap and very good (particularly on realistic instrument sounds lol apart from guitars!!)look on Ebay for either SC 88, SC88 Pro or SC8850 all Roland canvases and most go for peanuts these days, but have full midi specs, efx, etc etc