Setting Up Win7 Sound in Control Panel – Please Help!

[mudrubble]

Hi, firstly, my setup, then my issue:

Windows 7 (32 bit)
Intel Cortez D945GCZ Motherboard
DualCore Intel Pentium D 830, 3000 MHz CPU
2 GB RAM
Onboard Sound (SigmaTel STAC9220 A1 @ Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Controller [A-1])

I installed the AUD_allOS_D20001.0x_PV_IDTGUI_v105_Legacy.exe driver (IDT* 92XX Driver - Installs the integrated audio driver version 20001.0 for Intel® Desktop Boards with IDT* audio) found at the downloadcenter.intel.com website.

If there’s anything else important I’m neglecting to tell you about my setup please let me know.

---

My problem is that when I try to record anything in Audacity, or even just with the windows recorder under “Accessories” in the Start Menu (so the problem is not specific to Audacity at all), I get a lot of static in the foreground, with my voice in the background behind the static.

I’ll tell you what I’ve done to try to fix it, and maybe one of you good folks can tell me where I’m going wrong?

In the Windows Control Panel I went to Sound --> Recording tab --> I chose my Default Device: “Front Mic”, it is enabled and it has the little meter beside it that monitors input levels. All is fine there. So I go to record:

I open Audacity or Windows Recorder (Start --> Programs --> Accessories --> Windows Recorder) and click on record. The file I end up with is invariably a track of LOUD, screeching static, with a tiny voice in the background. (The voice is mine - thank god for that much!) It is precisely this intense, loud static that is my problem. I have tried this with two microphones (a Shure SM-58 and I'm using it with an adaptor that allows it to be plugged right into the mic input of a PC and also with a regular pc mic), both of which I know work perfectly, but changing the type of mic makes no difference in the outcome.

Why is it there? How to get rid of it? What settings have I neglected to set?

If anyone has the answers to these questions for me, I shall buy them a beer. Please help,

Mud

[steve]

Could you upload a short sample (about 2 seconds) as a WAV file - very short wav files may be attached to forum posts using the "Upload Attachment" tab below the message compose window. This will provide a much clearer idea of what we are dealing with.

[mudrubble]

Sure:

Mic Check One Two.wav

(885.65 KiB) Downloaded 58 times

^that's a pretty neat feature.

Thanks