Hiss, Hiss, Hiss

[I-AM]

Dear Forum,

I can't seem to get rid of a hiss sound while recording to my soundcard into Cool Edit Pro, or Sound Forge.
When I try to eliminate the hiss, it also takes a lot away from the MID and High frequencies which can be devastating to a drum track with hi hat.
I've tried to record my Drum machine, and keyboard through my analogue 4-track and into my sound card=LOTS OF HISS!
Then I tried just going directly into my computer from sources, a little better, but still HISS!
I check the VU meter before I record, no noise, sometimes just a fidget here in there but thats it. (And other times I can't get the thing to stop, so I don't record!)
Here's the thing, when I listen with my headphone monitors, I can here when a track starts that has Hiss. When I listen through my stereo-flat(No money for good monitors yet), I can 't here the Hiss come in out all, sounds almost perfect.
I think for my sake the Headphones are a better representation of the sound.
What can I do?
Thanks for any replies.

I-AM

 

[Tom Hicks]

What kind of sound card are you using?These vary widely in quality.Like most new guys,you may have a cheapo 16 bit card. I would suspect this is your weak link.When you turn on the monitor function in cool with no signal present,how much headroom do you have (usable recording room above the red noise level on the meter)?
With a nice 16 bit card like the Ensoniq Audio PCI you can get about 80 dB headroom(about $35).That puts the hiss way down there,really quiet.The big boys are using 24 bit cards with a signal to noise ratio something like 120 dB.
Remember,the weakest link in your chain (noisiest)will determine your overall noise level.Looking back at your post I notice the words "analogue 4-track".Would that be cassette?There is your problem,if so.Cassette quality is insufficient for digital recording.
Tom

 

[I-AM]

Thanks for the reply Tom.
Honestly I could really use a total upgrade package, but I am trying extremely hard to use the tools that I have right now.
First I think my computer is a piece of, well u know what I mean. 400 mhz Celeron-cool. 192 RAM-nice(but only 2 slots for memory!) Non 16 bit card. I don't know what the hell it is but my friend gave me a Soundblaster 16 bit card, and I noticed that I didn't even have a 16 bit slot to put it in!!!!!!
I only use my Analogue 4-tracj as a 4+ channel mixer(something I bought early in the game when I didn't know jack about recording-not saying I know more now, but I probably would have went another way if I knew what I know now!)
"I'll post the question I wanted to post here" in the Soundcard forum.
Thanks again.

I-AM