I just tried starting with

Code:
knoppix alsa
and got the following error msg from XMMS after selecting the various output options contained in the program:
Couldn't open audio

Please check that
Your soundcard is configured properly
You have the correct output plugin selected
No other program is blocking the soundcard"
Using the OSS plugin when I didn't use the alsa cheatcode, resulted in the glitchy sound. Using the ALSA plugin in that situation yield this same error msg.

Here's the lsmod output for this particular boot...i'll post the other one in a minute when i try rebooting with no alsa.

Code:
Module                  Size  Used by    Not tainted
soundcore               3428   0 (autoclean)
radeon                108580  13
autofs4                 8756   1 (autoclean)
af_packet              13544   0 (autoclean)
nls_iso8859-1           2844   1 (autoclean)
nls_cp437               4348   1 (autoclean)
agpgart                42724   3
3c59x                  25488   1
emu10k1-gp              1224   0 (unused)
gameport                1388   0 [emu10k1-gp]
hw_random               2700   0 (unused)
serial                 52100   0 (autoclean)
pcmcia_core            39840   0
apm                     9768   2
rtc                     7036   0 (autoclean)
cloop                   8740   2
sbp2                   16396   0 (unused)
ohci1394               22664   0 (unused)
ieee1394              183076   0 [sbp2 ohci1394]
usb-storage            61760   0 (unused)
usb-uhci               21644   0 (unused)
usbcore                57600   1 [usb-storage usb-uhci]
ataraid                 6180   0
ide-scsi                8816   1