What type of soundcard you have? Could be card (emi), disc, fan ...

Is it a powered mixer?

Might want to post all your specs. It'll help to troubleshoot. I think it's likely emi.

no it isnot a powered mixer (12 tracked behringer eurorack ub1622fx-pro)

my sound card is: Sigmatel c-major audio.my computer is brand new.

all of my cords are good, i have tested them between my amp and my bass.

and what is EMI?

are you going from your powered main outs into your soundcard, or from a rec/aux line out? You want to be using the line outs, not the powered outs.

*edit I just looked that mixer up, it's not powered (ie, built in power amp).

ElectroMagnetic Interferance. I think two of your problems are that you are using the standard AC97 chip on your laptop which is not anywhere near the quality you need to produce a cd and that you are using a powered mixer. I won't even mention the Behringer part. More than likely it's the soundcard but there is also a strong possibility that the transformers in the mixer are causing the buzz. Simply because it is in such close proximity to your laptop.

If you're serious about recording your cd, you might want to invest in a decent firewire interface and a quality mixer or a piece of hardware that is a combination of both. With what you have anything you produce will be substandard and will make you sound like a hack. Sorry to put it that way and it's no reflection on you I'm sure but outside perceptions will be critical.

Well im going to try and take my laptop away from the mixer. Also if i was going to buy anew chip what should i get? Also i know behringer is not the best, but for right now there is nothing i can really do about that. Ill post later tonight with my progress. Thankyou for your help so far.

Sorry. I thought you said it is a powered mixer. More likely then, that it is simply a matter of a poor quality soundcard and interference from the fans and other electronics within the laptop.

Take a look at presonus' Firebox or Firepod. Lot's of people happy with those. It really depends on how many inputs you need though.

Yeah i did say it was a powered mixer but i was wrong. i edited my earlyer post.

I figured out the problem...it was that if i have my laptop pluged into the outlet it makes that buzzing sound. im just really glad that, that was the problem and not my hardware. Thanks a lot guys for your help it really made a differance.

mkt711 wrote: I figured out the problem...it was that if i have my laptop pluged into the outlet it makes that buzzing sound. im just really glad that, that was the problem and not my hardware. Thanks a lot guys for your help it really made a differance.

That sounds like a ground problem. Try using a different outlet or plugging all your devices into the same one...or sticking ground lifts on certain equipment.

I have heard about this problem before, using the battery power cleans it right up, vs the wall power supply that is really cheap in laptops. Its a pain when you want to do long recording sessions.

yeah its even worse when you finally get the track right, and it turns out that a cell phone went off. I love that chicken sound it makes.

Get a decent interface!

I still think you should invest in a decent interface. Running your gear thru that onboard soundcard will not complement your work. I guarantee that once you've made the upgrade, you'll wonder how you ever made do without it.

A cheap little ground lift will solve your problem and allow you to use the lappy plugged in.

PPL will warn you about the dangers of lifting the ground, but I've been doing it for over 2 years and it's working well.

I dont need what im doing to have a "Well Produced" Sound...i mean some of my favorite recordings are not nessisarly the best quality. Also as a broke student i dont really have the means of spending a lot of money. But if i where to get a new interface what would you recomend?