his guide walks you through the basics of setting up your PC to get
the best performance without spending any cash, and the best ways to
spend a bit of dosh if you're so inclined.
One thing to remember throughout the course of this guide -- good sound
is highly subjective. One person may find one setup unlistenable whereas
another may find it fantastic. Can't tell the difference between MP3 and
FLAC? Then you may as well save some hard drive space and stick with
MP3. If you're completely happy with on-board audio, stick with it.
http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2007/09/12/pc_audio_101/1