Mp3's skip and jump - But in a different way
 

WinAmp version 5.03a

I've been noticing that lately my mp3's have been having problems playing. Basically, winamp seems to be altering my mp3's, making them play out of sequence with what it should be playing. For example, say I record a file that has me saying the following "I listen to this mp3 using Winamp".

For some reason, this mp3 may become altered and will become something like the following, "I lismp3 using Winamp ten". Basically, parts of the end of the song are replaced with parts near the beginning of the song, flipping them inside the file. I've checked the mp3's themselves by opening an editor and checking the results. It's clear that by looking at the wave of the file, a part of the song (usually 1-3 seconds) is switched with another part. It's extremely weird to hear, and has been ruining my mp3's.

They're also having short skips as well. Has anyone ever heard of this problem?

What are you using to record/encode these mp3's?

It's not possible for the default Winamp distro to physically alter your audio files. Something else must be the cause of that... eg. damaged hard drive, or a defrag that went wrong (eg. interrupted half way through), or maybe a virus, or some other audio software which is modifying the files... or if it is Winamp, then it can only be some dodgy 3rd-party plugin to blame. Installed any perhaps?


First, try a clean install of Winamp 5.04
(old buggy 5.03 is no longer supported)
and then try the DirectSound Output tweaks.

If the problem persists, answer all questions above, plus include basic system specs and HijackThis log (see link for details)

reply
 

My example was just to illustrate what the mp3's are doing. I'm not doing any kind of encoding or recording.

The only plugin I have is SneakyAmp, which I've used for a few years now.

If Winamp isn't able to physically alter my files, then I'm not sure what is. I've also tried setting my files to Read-only, yet they're still being altered. I've also noticed that other bits of mp3's can be "written" into the original. However, the amount written seems to be an exact amount. The mp3's filesize never actually changes in size, only the contents. I really wish I knew what was going on here.

Virus is doubtful (fully working Anti viral software + competant user). No other audio programs or anything of the sort. Hard drive is old, but corruption seems unlikely. Defrag is doubtful.

Honestly not sure whats doing it. The fact they're somehow being written into while Read only is what's bothering me.

I'll perform a removal and clean install of winamp 5.04. Has anything like this error been reported with 5.03 or earlier versions?

Nope. It's a first-case scenario, afaik.

Does the same thing happen when you play the same files in other players, eg. Windows Media Player?

Apart from that... yeah, try a clean install,
but if the problem persists, then we can't really help without knowing sys specs and seeing a HJT log... and maybe provide a link to one of the problem files (eg. zip up one of the mp3's, upoad it to some webspace, and post a link here).