sound recorder utillity noise

Hi
I am having trouble trying to get a flat line recording in the sound recorder utillity .I am using an IBM thinkpad A22M laptop with Win 98 SE. Everytime I try to make a blank wav file with sound recorder there is a low level constant noise shown on the meter , which of course makes for a noisy blank recording. I have turned all volume controls down and changed input device , with no change in noise level.
I am beginning to think it maybe hard drive noise transfer , but if the microphone is disabled as input device , shouldn't that cure that source as the problem ?
Anyone have an idea where else to look for this trouble.

 

Ok, here are a few thoughts :

Whats the sound card like? Are you running it in 16-bit mode? You can get all sorts of random stuff going on if its in he wrong bit-rate (16 is the most widley supported mode, pro audio cards run on 24-bit inputs), from digital looking noise (in a 1010101 pattern) to white noise.

Also, have you tried switching the input device to be Cd audio or digital in or somthing else you KNOW should be flat. You say youve changed the input device. Hmm.. Did you try unplugging the mic?

Low level hardware noise is normal in cheap setups. unless youre using a (reletivley) expensive mic, you are inevitabley going to get noise from it. also, if its coming off a mixer or somthing, check the phase of the wires. Shouldnt be a problem unless youre using somthing like stereo XLR cables.

Ill presume however that its a low-cost desktop mic were talking about here, along with an onboard sound chipset, and I stand by the fact its fairly normal to get noise on such setups.

 

nope

Sorry the microphone is internal . Remember it's an IBM TP . So no way to physically unplug . Have tried switching input device , same thing , noise .

Thanks for trying.

 

it may just be a flaw in the design, I remember working at microcenter, tey used supermicro ssm370 hboards in the powerspec line. Even i you didn't have a mic plugged into the line in it woul buzz, and it was a tone, so it was obviously an electrical noise.

 

You could be right . I have a friend that has an old 390 TP and it does the same thing. I have searched Microsoft knowledge base and IBM support with no other mention of such a problem. I would think there would be a common problem and solution , but no . Well thanks.I can make a blank wav on a different puter and copy it. Although when recording I am still going to have a low level noise no matter what the length of recording time...
Thanks to all