I have two Aardvark Q10's and like them a lot. Up until recently I had never tried to "offload" sounds from them onto other media (in this case digital audio tape on a DA-88) so the "background" noise that was coming out of the monitor and the other 8 outputs never really bothered me. It didn't get into the recordings either so that wasn't a problem.

But now, I'm trying to transfer some recordings onto the DA-88 and the noise in all but the front headphone output makes this impossible. I suspect the noise isn't coming from the Q10 itself because if I increase the monitor level the "noise" doesn't get louder. Also, the headphone output on the front of the Q10 is as quiet as can be. I think it's some part of my PC system that is the source but where do I start looking?

If I had to describe the sound it would be like distorted pink noise that changes in pitch and intensity whenever I move the mouse or open a window. It's especially loud when I first open SONAR.

Any thoughts? Would a video card cause noise interference? Other parts of the system? I have disabled any and all "resident" sound sources on the computer (like the onboard sound card). Only the Q10 is active.

Oh, and I have also "isolated" the unit so that I'm fairly certain it isn't magnetic interference from a power cord or transformer.

Thanks.