Dubbing cable, or ?

[Buzz]

both great suggestions that I hadn't (completely) considered. thanks. I started thinking bad cable, but w/ several producing poor results, I figured the odds of all being bad, especially since they worked OK in other applications, was pretty slim. my mind gravitated towards some sort of electrical or RF interference, not quite focusing on the output jack. via a headphone, the background noise is more audible than through the little built-in speaker, but still way less than what transfers via any of the dubbing cables. I guess that's why I like the computer compatible units better; just copy the sound files to the computer, and all is good...

any other ideas?