As above most of the stuff I download to my pc is so echo sounding that when I play it through the speakers

I can barely understand it. Through the headphones it is maybe 10-15% better, but still not enjoyable.

Can anyone tell me where to start to look for areas I may improve my sound quality.

I have an Asus 2.66 Desktop That when I look at the spec it appears to support all types of sh1t

but I don't know what it actually has.

It has ATI Radeon X550 graphics board or at least thats what Everest tells me.,,,,I think.

Keep reading about about 5.1 etc etc.

Mebbe I need an hearing aid.

help if u can

Hi OneeyedJohn,

If you have microphone, lower the input level, or mute it.

Or you have switched on a sound effect, have a look in your sound manager (you can find the 5.1 settings there as well, try normal mode for a change)

It may well be that your sound device (onboard or external) has a program that can be used for altering certain things such as echo, reverb etc. My onboard sound device has such a program, which can be accessed via the Control Panel (usually listed as something to do with 'Sound'). This program can make my computer sound exactly the way that you describe.

Very helpful guys. Thanks.

There are so many settings etc etc its easy to not see the woods for trees