Can I have 2 soundcards on my pc?

[simonstevens35]

Hi all,
My pc is split into 2 partitions, one Windows Me, the other xp. I am into music recording and have an ageing Lexicon 2 sound card which unfortunately will never have windows xp drivers created. My windows xp partition uses the built in sound on the motherboard, but I would like to upgrade this to a separate sound card for surround sound. So my question is this:

Is it possible to have two sound cards in my pc system, one for each partition? I have had some trouble getting a tv card to work alongside the lexicon core 2 in the past, so will this be the same if I added another sound card?

Thanks in advance

 

[mudskipper]

Is it technically possible to have 2 soundcards in a system? Yes. Is it easy? Not usually!!

Some soundcards are specifically made to work in tandem with other card (usually of the same make/model), but many just do not play well with others. I say, "go for it". The worst that happens is that it doesn't work. Make sure that your new card can be returned if you decide that it is not going to work for you, though!!

If I were working on it, this is how I would try it. Of course, I am assuming that when in ME, you want to use ONLY the Lexicon 2, and NOT the new card. If you want to switch between them, then the problem becomes more complicated (but still works sometimes).


1) Most motherboards do a good job of disabling the onboard sound. So "replacing" the onboard with a different card should (in theory) be easy. Do this first.
2) Go into XP, install the new card's drivers and ensure that it works.
2) Place the Lexicon 2 into a slot, boot into XP. If your sound works fine, then don't fuss with it. Go to step 3.
3) Boot to ME. Now install the drivers for the Lexicon 2 (but not for the new card). If this does not work, then you can try to install the drivers for the new card (in hopes that after the driver install, you have more control over the resource assignments through windows).

Remember that if you have to load the drivers for BOTH cards in ME, that you will have to be careful to select the proper sound card for output. Some programs may give you horrible headaches with this, but it can work in many cases.

My only other advice would be to do some googling regarding your lexicon 2 (if you haven't already). See if others were able to do similar tasks.

Hope this helps!

Mudskipper
-----------------
Groucho said it best- "A four year-old child could understand this!
Quick! Run out and find me a four year-old child: I can't make heads nor tails out of this!"

 

[simonstevens35]

thanks for the advice mudskipper. I havent brought the new sound card yet, but i think i will go ahead soon, and as you said, if it doesnt work return it.

thanks a lot!