sound problem

[Gerhard Magnus]

Why do I get static from my speakers (or headphones) when playing CDs or
when playing the "test sound" on the KDE Control Center -> Sound &
Multimedia -> Sound System window -- but no static (with everything
sounding fine) when I play the test sound from the "sound card
detection" window or do anything involving sound from Windows XP on the
same machine?  Changing volume settings just makes the static louder or
softer.