[RedFury]

I'm dealing with something similar. Speakers are easy to figure out if they work, just plug them into your personal CD player, MP3 player, what-not and use them instead of headphones. If they work, then you can rule them out. If the sound card then appears to be the culprit, then you may want to remove the sound card from the device manager, restart the computer and see if it is redetected. If it isn't, you can probably assume the worst.

Don't fret! Sound cards are cheap, and you will probably upgrade yourself by quite a bit moving off the motherboard to a PCI sound card. Lots of good sound cards out there, ask around for suggestions and we can certainly find a brand and type that will get you up and running fast and easy. I personally don't care for onboard sound all that much...seems my systems run faster with a sound card off the motherboard.

My problem is, I've got a relatively expensive sound card, and it sounds like Eminem is singing into a tin can and playing an electric violin, with a heavy bass beat