LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] Sound issues in Audacity, cracking sounds

Hey everyone!

Okay, one of the things I like to do is record music. It's just a hobby. The previous install went down the drain because the harddrive failed. So: a new install.
Due to some limitations, this is the setup (it is for a hobby, nothing pro) P4 with Debian 5, Alsa and OSS installed, Audacity (I know, Ardour, but that thing had the same issues) and a soundblaster as in/out. On the in-plug, there is a mixer panel, there are some synths hooked up. The out goes to PC speakers. Yea, I know, nothing fancy, but...when I play, I can hear everyhting tru the speakers at pretty good quality. Given that my synth makes some white noise itself, but that's besides the point...
So, I hit the record, play and hear everything crystal clear, then I rewind and hit record to record the next track and the previous track has a lot of distortion...
Same with the previous setup: Jack and Ardour on a Debian 6...

Any hints here?

By the way, yes, I do have a LynxOne lying around, but I cant get the drivers...they're not free, unless I missed something...

Thanks!

Thor
Edit - tried with several installs - the play (direct that is) is clear, it's the play-back that is bad, as if there's not enough signal comming into the software (Audacity in this case, but also the Sound recorder)
Edit 2 - of course I user Alsamixer and the GUImixer to unmute/openup everything...
Edit 3 - it looks as if the receiving program (Audacity, Ardour, SoundRecorder, ...) is "starved" of input signal, no matter how high I set the input volume (on the mixer) I only get a very flat spectrogram/signal...

SOLVED : I pulled out the sound card and tried it with an other one...the sound is clear, though this one (it never ends, does it?) pick up noise from the display...but, now I know it's the card...