I have been playing around with the VDJ software 30 day trial.

It suggests that I can "cue" through a secondary audio device which it recognises as C-Media Wave Device. My main soundcard is the Audigy 2 ZS Plat Pro.

my Q is this - how do I set up the on board sound card to work? if indeed it is possible?

any suggestions much appreciated

I'm sure that with VDJ, as is definately the case with other progs, if you have a multi channel s/c you can use front l7r for play and rear l&r for cue/monitor. So u don't need another s/card

To activate your onboard audio you need to access the Bios. Do you know how to do this? When your PC boots up, the first screen you see displays your IDE hardware. When you see this, press the "Delete" key and your Bios will appear. There should be an area in there called "Integrated Peripherals" where you will find your onboard audio settings. Once enabled you may need to find the driver disc that came with your PC / mainboard to load the audio drivers.

thanks for that, I'll have a play with the BIOS first as i would like the flexibility of 2 sound cards working anyway (subject to any hardware compatibility issues...).

after that I will see how I get on with the front and rear L&Rs (always useful to have a range of options).

are there any views on the merits of VDJ as a software package, or alternative, before i choose whether to fork out a slice of my hard earned......?

You'll need to google around for totally expert advice on this.
asfaik you'll get conflicts if you try and use onboard sound with a soundcard and it may be better to disable onboard and run 2 cards.

I'm pretty sure that the best thing, and probably the cheapest option, would be to buy a semi-pro external usb2 device. This would take all the delicate/sensitive sound components outside your noisy PC.

well after a bit of messing about I have made some progress!
the on board sound "enabled" easily enough, nothing came crashing down or stopped working, but initially I didn't seem to get any sound.
then it occured to me that I could plug some headphones into the socket (duhhh!) and magically I got sound (hurrah!).
then i thought "can i get a second microphone to work as well by plugging that into the appropriate socket?"
Er, so far "No!"
whether or not this will all work with the software i have been playing with or not i don't yet know as these amazing discoveries were whilst trying to have a web cam conversation with my friend in Spain. if i can find the definitive solution i will try and post it here as the google search did not release any "idiot proof" instructions!