i use unisound for my ess cards (unless they are jumpered) maybe give it a try?

Good idea.
Tried that.
Still nothing.
It is weird - something else is at play here.

does it work in other PC's if you have another?

Turns out both sounds cards kicked the bell since the last time I used them.
Put a good old ct1750 in - instasounds.
Tried with another pnp card - everything works, including DMA1 which is sometimes problem on some XT mobos (or so people say).

So, nothing to see here other than two more old hardware items gone.

maybe bad caps?

Small chance it is that.
Will treat them over the weekend and see if they come back.

I would also look into any eeprom chips as well if any. I have a card (not ess) that flakes out and i have to rewrite the eeprom to fix it.

Here's your one free excuse ticket to upgrade to a V30, see if that makes a difference 🤣

Thanks @Pickle.
The two cards i have on the bench at the moment don't have eeproms.
But i know what you mean - happened on other hardware.

@BitWrangler
That is already the case.
Posted about it in a another thread.