Getting back to Vicarn's issue...

I read up a little about "on-board HD sound (no card)." Hi-def sound is usually optimized for playback, and it could be that his new computer's sound setup is not optimized for input at all. For all we know the manufacture threw a cheap 16-bit input in there and the HD chip is attempting to "enhance" it during playback.

An outboard interface like a FastTrack or Presonus is probably the way to go.