If you are recording sound next to a whirling hard drive or noisy computer, you will produce an audio that appears to have a lot of static but it actually is primarily environmental sound.
The most common problem is the microphone (or headset) related to its surroundings. Therefore, it is best to quelch static before it hits the sound card, so to speak.
Some sound editors, like Audacity from SoundForge can reduce static noise, but the disadvantage is that it deforms the audio.
