When you record audio using a native pulse application (GNOME Sound Recorder, for example), the sound you get is crappy and unusable. Using raw alsa output (no pulseaudio) works fine, also, if you use pulse's OSS emulation, the sound is OK.
I think this is not a hardware problem, as I can also reproduce this using virtual inputs (Captures)
libpulsecore5: 0.9.12-0ubuntu1~ppa1
libpulse0: 0.9.12-0ubuntu1~ppa5
pulseaudio: 0.9.12-0ubuntu1~ppa5
If you need more information, do not hesiate to ask for it. I attach a sound sample for you to listen to it and see what the problem might be.