help needed

[podcast21]

hi i'm new here and don't really know where to put this.

i record a weekly podcast. i have an alesis multimix8 usb mixer to which i plug in 2 xlr microphones. i use Audacity too. for about a year and a half i recorded on a HP Pavilion laptop. the quality was perfect. that laptop started to die, so i bought a new Toshiba Satellite laptop. now, trying to record on it, the quality is nowhere near as good. there is a constant hiss/white noise.

why would a brand new computer provide worse quality than a 3-4 year old computer?

here are the specs:

HP pavilion dv6700
Intel core duo 2.0 ghz
4.00 gb ram
Windows vista 64 bit
Realtek high definition audio

Toshiba Satellite L655-S5165
Intel i5 2.67 ghz
4.00 gb ram
Windows 7 64 bit
Conexant SmartAudio HD

does it have to do with the sound card?

 

[JimmyS1969]

Your multimix is your soundcard I believe. Alesis specs show compatibility up to Vista but not Win7. Have you upgraded driver to ASIO4All v2.10?

Get it hereiMultiMix 8 USB

I am not familiar with this unit so someone may correct me, but this seems like it's worth a shot. I am assuming you will need to select this ASIO driver in audacity after installing.

Good luck!

Jimmy