Sound Card Blues!

I had a CMI-8330 sound card which has conked off. I had bought a new Creative VIBRA 128. The playback sounds fine, but when I try recording there is a scratching sound in the background. I tried many different settings as possible, tried changing the card to a different slot, etc... but it still gives me problems. There is nothing wrong with the mic (tested on another computer) and there is nothing wrong with the sound card either (had it replaced). Can anyone please help me out with this problem.

Have you tried to turn off all other channels then the mic when you are recording. Are the noise only when there is high or medium high sounds or all the time??? What app are you using to record???

The only other probable recording device is the Line In port (muted). The problem is all the time. I tried recording with Windows Sound Recorder as well as Dart Pro 98. Both give problems. I think it is a hardware level problem.

Have you tried Cool Edit....with Cool edit you can do a simple test to see if the sound in to you microphone is set to high or anything. Because if it is too high you will get a scratching sound. Like if someone taps on the microphone. But anyway you will always have some background noise in the background. And it will be much clearer if you have the microphone in level set to low. So to get the best performance, you need to set the microphone inn level to the highest before you get that scratching sound. And afterwards you can use a normalize function or something to master the sound...

I am downloading the software (also new drivers). I'll let you know of the result. Anyway, here is a recording sample.

OK, I have never heard that noise before...:)....but it's not becuase you have set the microphone inn level to high. But try Cool Edit and let us know...

a few solutions.

1) pull the side off your pc and remove the cda cable connecting the soundcard to the cd drive, the noise should stop.

2) ensure a fair distance between your monitor, and machine.

3) place the soundcard at the bottom pci slot if your graphics card has a fan, im not entirely sure why this helps but it once worked for me.

4) lower the bass/treble settings

generally those sounds occur because of noise caused by other devices, or from power usage, for example, owners of onboard sound and optic mice will sometimes, with the volume up, hear a constant clicking whilst moving the mouse.

anyway, good luck with it.

1) cable from CD-ROM to sound card removed

2) Monitor and Cabinet on two ends of the desk

3) Sound card on the last PCI slot, though my Display card does not have a fan

4) I don't have bass/treble settings

... still the problem is not solved :confused: :( :mad:

Whats more, here is a recording sample... EVEN WHEN, NEITHER THE MIC, NOR THE SPEAKER WAS PLUGGED IN! :confused: :rolleyes: :eek:

HELP!!!