A good software synthesizer for windows

[Michael Morris]

I used to enjoy listening to midi files on my desktop since it had a high end soundcard (an audigy II) - however, the inbuild wave synth of windows XP just plain sucks. Is there anyway to replace this thing since it is software based anyway? I'm on a laptop, so getting a new soundcard isn't an option unfortunately.

 

[derbacher]

Well, I went and bought the Audigy II USB card for my laptop, and it is simply awesome. Plug it in the usb port, add some decent headphones, and you're in audio heaven. I make my living through music, so good audio is a must for me. (You should hear my home studio set-up!)

I use Cakewalk Pro as my main synth tool, but this is probably more money than you would want to invest. Their HomeAudio is not bad, for around $99 U.S.

I don't know if this helps, but good luck!