"warped" Mp3s

[KCBlueGal]

I have never experienced this problem before, and have no idea what could be causing it. I am starting to think it's my computer or the Kazaa program?

No matter what file I download, it sounds "warped" when I play it back. I haven't tried burning any of the MP3s to CD yet.

I even tried downloading really popular (Top 40) files, such as Aguilera, Lavigne, etc, so that I'd get a lot of sources, but each song still sounds warped. Each song will start out in one key and then change keys and continue through the duration of the song.

I've tried playing back in several different programs so it's not just one program, it's the actual song that is playing back warped (or my computer making it play back warped).

This is a new computer and this is the first time I've tried downloading music on it. My old computer didn't have this problem. I browsed through the boards and did a search but couldn't see any similar issues.

What could the problem be?? Thanks for any insight you can provide!

[goatsezapper]

Could be low bitrate music files maybe? Like under 128 kbps?

More likely its a sound card/computer issue because you say this is a new computer yeah? Perhaps you could tell us a bit about the comp itself. Also what prog are you using to listen to the music files?

[TRshady]

yep, you got it covered goatsezapper.

[KCBlueGal]

OK First I tried listening to the MP3s through the Kazaa's built-in player. Then I tried listening through Window's Media Player, then I tried listening through IrfanView. While writing this post, I listened to it through Acid Pro 4.0 and it sounded just fine.

Edited to add: I downloaded them all at 128KB. I normally download them at 160 but when I started having problems, I went with the more popular 128. Doesn't matter which bitrate, it's all the same.

About my computer...

Dell Dimension 4550 modelPentium® 4 Processor at 2.40GHz with 533MHz system bus/ 512K L2 Cache
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM at 333MHz
Speakers: Harman Kardon HK-395 Speakers with Subwoofer
Hard Drive: 60GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive
Video Cards: 64MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce4 MXTM Graphics Card with TV-Out