I haven't made any further progress and the WinAmp solution sounds great! Does it bypass your soundcard in terms of quality? If the sound it produces is acceptable then I guess it doesn't matter a jot.

I used Wingroove for a couple of years when the Compaq PC I acquired refused to let me instal a decent soundcard. It has its own set of sounds which (on average) are much better than FM synthesis used on many cards. Not a patch on a really good card though - I must admit that in terms of folk instruments I've never come across a card that sounds remotely like a real fiddlele though.

Regards, John