Audio files sound like they've gone through a cheese grater.

January 20, 2005 6:58 PM

SoundsLikeSomethingMomWouldAskMe: When I try to play mp3s, QuickTime, or other audio files, it sounds like they've gone through a cheese grater. I can play CDs only on the computer's CD player - not through QuickTime or Music Match. This started around the time that two other things happened - upgrade from Win98 to 2000, and a new fan installed. Anybody know what's wrong?
posted by tizzie to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

I used to have problems with QuickTime/Itunes sound until I changed the Sound Out option in QuickTime (from Direct Sound to Wave Out Windows). Clearly this has nothing to do with MusicMatch, though...
posted by mookieproof at 7:28 PM on January 20, 2005

do all sounds sound like a cheese grater, no matter where they play (like, even the Windows startup noises)? there are a few sound cards - though which I can't remember - that don't work properly under Windows 2000. if you can find out what kind of sound card/chip you have you could look for updated drivers too.
posted by mrg at 7:36 PM on January 20, 2005

What's the CPU utilization when this is happening? Is it an older box?
posted by ulotrichous at 7:43 PM on January 20, 2005

Sounds like driver/codec issues to me, for what it's worth.

I'd remove (ie delete) your sound devices in Device manager, reboot, let Windows redetect them (and see if it asks you for drivers and have 'em ready to install if so) as a first step.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:25 PM on January 20, 2005

Response by poster: Yes, mrg, it's all the sounds - even the startup noises. They sound shredded, if that makes any sense.
posted by tizzie at 5:11 AM on January 21, 2005

This may be a dumb idea, but have you tried different speakers? It could be that they're blown.
posted by quibx at 6:23 AM on January 21, 2005

I think stavros is right on this one. One of the computers in our lab occasionally does this. Kill the sound card in your Device Manager and let it redetect on reboot; Install new drivers if you have to. Seems to be an issue with some cards, they can get scrambled occasionally.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:26 AM on January 21, 2005

Response by poster: I thought it might be the speakers, too, but since CDs play ok with the system cd player, I ruled that out. I ruled out my other first thoughts, like that my mp3 files had become corrupt, because other things - like system sounds - were affected.

Thank you all! I am definitely going to try your suggestions over the weekend.
posted by tizzie at 7:31 AM on January 21, 2005