i'm recording my voice for a flash movie i'm putting together.  i'm
using a sony microphone that is plugged in directly to my PC and using
the pre-installed recording software that comes with windows 2000. 
I'm getting consistent static in the background and want to know how
to make a clearer recording.  Any advice?  Do I need a better mic?  If
so, which one?  or can I adjust some internal settings to filter out
the static?

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Request for Question Clarification by webadept-ga on 01 Jan 2003 15:59 PST

what sound card are you using? and are you willing to purchse some software?

There are lots of considerations, which some researcher will probably
explain to you, but I'll pass along what worked for me:  don't use the
preamplifier on the sound card.  Plug the microphone into a
preamplifier and connect the line output of the preamplifier to the
line input of the sound card.  You don't necessarily have to use a box
that is specifically a preamplifier--anything with a mic input and a
line output, such as a tape deck or a mixer, may work.

I'm using a Santa Cruz (Turtle Beach) and I would be willing to buy
software at a reasonable price (ie. under $50).  Let me know if there
is anything else I can answer for you.

OK some simple stuff, plug the mic into the Mic jack of your soundcard
(not the line in). You can record  some sound through Windows sound
recorder etc and listen to the results. There are various microphones
you can get with Noise cancelling features in them, try a couple of
different microphones to see if it is the Mic causing the static and
make sure the Mic jack is plugged in properly. You might consider
looking through some of the  suggestions for improving voice recording
quality on a site like www.scansoft.com and look for recording hints
related to Dragon Naturally Speaking (speech recognition program) and
improving recording quality.