Static on Recordings

[pencil]

New to Audacity, but longtime recorder of audio streaming. New computer using Windows 7 and just downloaded latest Beta 1.3.10. I can record everything I need to---streaming audio and/or music DVD's, etc. I'm using line-in cable from speaker jack to line-in jack. Back in the day this was called recording "what I hear" from the sound card. No matter what I record, there is a low level static sound, not "clipping" from high recording levels or distortion....even quiet parts have the static sound. I have spent the better part of this afternoon reading all the posts and have tried every combination. I'm exporting .wav at 44,000 16-bit, then converting to MP3 in another program. No matter what I do, the original recording has the static, so everything else does after converting. Any one have any ideas?

[steve]

It sounds like for some reason your computer is not recording the audio fast enough.
This could be due to a virus checker interfering (try temporarily switching it off), compatibility problems between your sound card drivers and Windows 7 (are updated drivers available?), other programs/processes hogging resources (try shutting down all non-essential programs and processes), you computer not being fast enough, your hard drive being too slow (try error checking the hard drive and defragmenting it), or some other reason.

[pencil]

I'm starting to think it has to do with my intregrated sound card. Anyone doing a lot of streaming audio recording want to recommend a cheap PCI sound card for Windows 7 system?