Static in audio recordings

I've been using Storyline 2 since before there was a '2'.  I consider myself an advanced user. 

This Monday afternoon, I inserted audio from a file and in the background was a lot of static.  I normally use Wavepad Sound Editor to make my recordings and then insert them as a file into Storyline 2.  Since Monday afternoon, all audio brought into Storyline or recorded inside Storyline has this static background noise. 

I have made test recordings using: Wavepad, Audacity, the recorder inside Storyline and even my iPhone recorder to ensure it was not my microphone (sent via email).  All of these recording methods still resulted in static. All of these files sound perfect in the program used to record them.

Older slides (recorded before Monday afternoon) still play fine when copied into Storyline.  Old sound files from other Storyline courses I have created also play fine when inserted as audio files. 

Finally, I made a Microsoft Lync recording (using the same microphone I always use), and inserted it as a video - it played fine.

I then extracted the audio from the video and inserted it as an audio file and it played fine too.

I updated Storyline 2 on May 8 so I don't see how it could be related to the upgrade.

I'm at a loss to understand why this is happening.  Does anyone have any insight into this problem?

Thank you,

Dave