How to get best sound recording

[Andy]

The problem with computers is that they mix up signals on a motherboard. This is ok but the digital designers tend to be clueless about analog audio.

With digital signals you get a 1 or 0 depending on the voltage level of the signal. So the hardware can decide if the signal is a 0 or 1 based on a ratio of signal to noise. So it's easy to get the correct value.

But with audio it's a whole different story. The levels are spanned over at least 256 steps so noise from digital signals on the motherboard easily corrupts it.

The answer for good computer audio is to keep the analog audio away from the motherboard. The solution is a seperate sound card or if you are really keen, an external sound unit to convert mic level signals to the line level that is used on computers. This will get rid of the hiss at least.