A no go relating USB 1.1 audio playback is intel's ICH6 (i915 & i925 chipsets) in its first production incarnation. Marking 82801FB SL7AG. Thanks to intel's really usefull errata docs, I stopped wondering about the dropouts i got: <snip> 7. Intel? ICH6 Completion Delays Problem: ICH6 internal devices or devices connected to the ICH6 may experience additional completion delays of up to 40 usec. Implication: No end user functional impact expected. Most ICH6 devices are buffered adequately to withstand an additional 40 usec delay. The UHCI (Full-speed only) may experience underruns and PCI may experience downstream request delays. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Both implications are allowable their respective industry specifications. Workaround: None. Status: Fixed in B-2 stepping. </snip> Karsten