Music imported from CD skips on Computer and IPod

Question

After I have imported an album into iTunes, some of the songs skip while playing. It's as if it has a bad case of hiccups.
I have tried re-synching with the iPod; restoring the iPod to defaults; deleting iTunes and reloading.
The CD does not have any skips.
Any suggestions??

Answer 1

I had problems importing audio CDs into iTunes. The imported tracks would skip during playback. To rule out faulty playback by iTunes, I used Windows Media player to playback the imported files (MP3, AIFF). The same skipping was there also. This meant the problem was in the way iTunes imported the tracks.
To rule out a problem with the CD/DVD ROM drive or CD media, I experimented with importing the audio CD tracks using Windows Media Player (creating WMA files). I found no skipping, no glitches during playback.
I read a few threads online that pointed towards system configuration, system load, and quality of the optical drive. But why would Windows Media Player work and iTunes not work on the same system? The problem still seemed to be with iTunes, not with my system.
Making matters worse, the problem was elusive because the skipping and glitches were slightly different from trial to trial, but the file size would be exactly the same each time. Also, the first track imported during a session seemed to have more errors than subsequent tracks. This left me suspicious of all imported tracks.
I disabled "Play songs while importing or converting" but that alone did not make a difference.
Finally I found something that worked. When I originally configured iTunes for CD importing, I selected "Use error correction" even though I had not experienced any prior problems. I had selected it as a precautionary measure. When I finally disabled error correction, the skipping went away. Just to check, I re-enabled error correction and the problem returned.
Edit > Preferences > Advanced Tab > Importing Tab
Option "Play songs while importing or converting"
Option "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs"
If the problem reoccurs, I will replace my CD/DVD ROM drive. One user said that worked.
I still have more testing to do. The first track imports fine. I still have to test importing an entire CD and listening for errors. But I am fairly confident that the problem is fixed.