Here you go, Steve:
Cheers.
Definitely better.
What happens if you turn the recording volume up to 100%?
I’m still in the process of updating the newly wiped machine (after backing up my fella’s 84 GB of data which he believes he already has but we all know how that goes) so can’t test just yet.
BTW, before I wiped the machine I did try it without the power cord just to rule that out as well. Also, once I had it here in my home office I could detect a very slight click. That would seem to correlate with the click which appeared in the new background noise. Since wiping and formatting I’m not hearing it any longer. Perhaps something to do with the software controlling an SSD? Not sure.
WOULD anybody record at 100%?
Cheers.
SSDs make no noise, very little heat and will withstand physical abuse (within reason). They are poster child devices for laptops and portable equipment. They have no moving parts. If the machine is making noises it may be the fans or cooling system. If the old operating system was very busy much of the time, the cooling system may have needed to work hard causing little noises.
I had a laptop that worked that way. I had to stop recording and drink coffee while it was periodically cooling itself.
Your machine may have been serving “personal files” to Tasmania as a pirate background task. Tasmanian “personal files” generates a lot of heat.
Koz
WOULD anybody record at 100%?
Many volume controls inside a computer are actually attenuators. So 100% isn’t maximum amplification. It’s just taking all the attenuation out.
I use mixer and equipment settings that make the client the happiest.
Koz
Definitely.
One of my microphone pre-amps tends to be noisy at the top end. I get the best results with the audacity input full up and the mixer setting at about 70 %.
Aye, I sometimes had to wait as well when the cooling span up. It didn’t happen often as I had very little running for that very reason. 
All I know is that the very quiet sound with the repetitive click is no longer audible to me. I’m almost done with the zillion updates and then upgrade to 8.1. I may yet have a chance tonight to record with it otherwise definitely in the morning.
Interesting to hear about the 100%. I would have thought it more dangerous since I thought it would give the capability of picking up extraneous noise. I shall experiment tomorrow.
I fear I’m going to have to re-do Cattle from the start once last time else I’ll probably not be able to match up correctly with what I’ve already done. Ah well, I’m inhabiting the characters more easily now so perhaps it is a good thing.
As always, your humble and grateful student.
Cheers.
As others have said, it depends on the equipment.
100% may mean “maximum amplification”, which will probably introduce too much “hiss” noise.
100% may mean “no attenuation”, so that you get the full signal - less than 100% simply reducing the signal.
With my usual setup, I have a mixing desk that goes to a USB sound card that goes to the computer. Typical settings for that setup are:
Mixer input gain: about 60%
Mixer channel fader: 0 dB (goes up to +10 dB)
Master channel fader: 0 dB (goes up to +10 dB)
USB sound card: 100% (fixed)
Computer control panel (Linux): 100 (goes from 0 to 120)
As a very fuzzy rule and then only on analog mixers, I start out life with the three volume controls at 2/3 to 3/4 up.
It’s generally a sign of problems if everything is run full up or close to it. That’s when you start looking for troubles like bad batteries or running the microphone the wrong way or bad cables.
However, if that’s the way to get the show into the digital “can,” then that’s the way it is. We’ll troubleshoot later.
Koz
I’ve received an off-forum suggestion for something else to check.
As far as we are aware, the only place in Windows 8.x to set the recording level for a Blue Snowball microphone is in the Windows Sound Control Panel. However, some microphones (such as the Blue Yeti) there is a third place - a “Mixer” accessed by left-clicking on the system tray speaker icon. Audio device drivers are sometimes changed/updated, so it may be worth checking in case there is such a “mixer” for your mic.
That “Volume Mixer” window on Vista and later contains only output volume sliders for running devices and applications. It’s a third place to control a device’s output volume, and it’s a third place to control Audacity’s output volume.
So theoretically, USB recording devices that have no headphones output for listening to playback from the computer (like Snowball or USB turntables or USB cassette decks) “should” not appear there. However recording-only USB devices often do show non-functional output devices on Windows. The Yeti (if you had one) is intended as a playback device for the computer and so would show a functional output slider in Volume Mixer.
I just tested this with an Ion USB turntable - adjusting its Volume Mixer output slider does not affect the input level, as expected.
Gale
Thank you sincerely, everybody.
But I give up.
Really fed up right now. If anybody needs me I’ll be in the corner with some chocolate and dust in my eyes.
Hey, you in the corner with dust in your eyes…
Sorry to keep harping on about this, but could you post a similar test recording with the mic recording level set to 100%.
If necessary, eat some chocolate first - it won’t improve the recording, but it might cheer you up 
wipes the dust and chocolate smears
Here you go, Steve.
I’m off to finally slumber.
Cheers.
I haven’t read all this, but have you tried different USB cables and different USB ports, and asked Blue about this?
Is this an old Blue from before July 2007 (serial number below 76-065000)? Those are not compatible with Vista and later, according to Blue.
Gale
Apparently there is a 3 position switch on the bottom of the Blue Snowball (near the USB socket). Is it on position 1, 2 or 3?
It should be on position 1 for speech recording.
If it is already on position 1, try it on position 2 - that should be much worse (much quieter recording). This test will tell us if the switch is working.
Is this an old Blue from before July 2007 (serial number below 76-065000)?
Apparently, this setup has already produced client deliverables. It’s not fresh out of the shrink wrap.
There is one item I think is worthy of further work. There are now two computers in the picture, yes? Has this computer ever worked right? I know you just spent lots of IT time restoring the machine to top working condition, but it’s totally possible the hardware might be bad. I know that’s heresy, you can fix anything in software, but there it is.
All you did was prove the problem is very probably not the operating system or digital environment. We still need to check the microphone on another computer. Possibly the one that created the original work?
Koz
Thanks again for more advice.
I did try one other USB cable but I’ve gone back to the one recommended in this thread (the one which came with the Blue did not have a choke(?) on it. I’ve also tried switching the microphone switches a few times to ensure they weren’t sticking (Koz gave me that advice).
Putting the microphone volume up is definitely having a deleterious affect. If I put it down to 55% (as with the latest clip, number 19) after processing I can barely hear the new noise at 100% volume but it is still there. According to Audacity I’m still managing to reach the ACX requirements. If I take it even lower is this harming my recording? I don’t know what else to do.
And Koz, the SPX with the SSD is the machine I’ve been using since August and the only one with which I’ve produced client deliverables. 
The test where I took my other computer in there the feedback I got was that it was “a little better” so that doesn’t seem to be the answer.
So is the Blue secondhand? Might it predate July 2007?
What was the answer to Steve’s question? Is position 2 quieter? If not, the mic may be broken and not giving you position 1.
What do Blue say about it?
Do you get the same in Windows Sound Recorder? If so it is not an Audacity problem.
Gale
All that plus connecting it to the second computer. If it’s still low, then the microphone is probably fried since you already changed the cable.
Koz