recording music

[3Styler]

does anyone know how to eliminate the spitting noise when recording at a high volume, obviously i could record at a lower volume but then it's barley audible when i play it back.  I'm not recording through a mic, my keyboard/guitar is just connected directly to the computer and i want to keep it that way.  So basically how do i make my recording software able to deal with a higher volume? (at the moment whenever the volume of keyboard gets above a certain point, a spitting/distorted/fuzzy noise is generated) is it to do with the buffers? if so, how?

[smee.tracey]

It's your speakers. Get better ones

[Tweed]

Have you adjusted your recording levels throught the soundcard software? There's usually a visual monitor that will indicate this (stay out of the red). Also, for equipment such as guitars and mics, you need a pre amp to obtain a line level input for recording. A di box for guitar and a pre amp for a mic.

[3Styler]

yes Tweed but that was the point, when i stay out of the red then the sound level is too low when i play it back.  In fact i've changed my question,  can anyone explain what buffers and sample rates are?

[Hammer]

Have you tried recording at the lower level, without the distortion, and then normalizing to bring the volume up?

[hinge1967]

A sample rate refers to the sound quality as it is recorded and there is a table on this page:

http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave/Multimedia/node150.html

that shows the lower the sample rate the lower the sound quality.

I suggest googling for buffer, but usually it acts as a small storage space that stores data before it is played out, therefore minimising sound lag. Similar to that on a joggable CD player.

[bazwillrun]

Without actuall hearing this noise my guess is that it is clipping. If the recorded volume is far too low when just under the red, it sounds like the input signal is not strong enough, it needs to go through a preamp or a mixer to boost it to an acceptable level.