Distortion through itunes playback

I am getting a distorted sound on listening to Itunes on my PC. Downloading to my Ipod is fine, listening to a CD is fine , listening via Windows Media or Real Player is OK.
This began just 3 weeks ago but had been fine the last couple of years. I'm using the latest version of ITunes.
Is it my PC or is there a fault with the settings of my Itunes?

You may want to check your soundcard output in QuickTime. See this post for directions on the process: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa;jsessionid=aXxb7IZbMDPmI_4E?messageID=814726&ft=y&#814726
And this Article: iTunes and QuickTime for Windows: Songs and other audio don't play correctly
And before you do any of the above, make sure that you have all the recent Windows Updates from windowsupdate.com. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your particular sound card, and make sure you have the latest DirectX installed. Any of these could also cause this problem without QuickTime being the culprit.

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Distortion/fuzz through itunes

Using a macbook pro, and this has been going on through several versions of itunes, nothing to do with CPU or speakers or power source etc. When playing music through itunes, songs will start to distort/crackle (more for some songs than others.) At first i thought it was my speakers and i sent them back, then thought it was my mixer and spoke to the support team, BUT realized shortly afterwards (with having no luck) that it's nothing to do with the mixer because you can play the same files through quicktime and they wont crackle!
Any Help???? Solutions????

I'm going to show you a test to determine if the files are corrupt.
Take one of the songs (one that crackles a lot would be best, just so you can see a better contrast) and remove it from your iTunes library. Don't delete the file. Move the file to your desktop. Add it back to iTunes. Try playing it. If it still crackles, then it's probably that the files are corrupt. If not, then it had something to do with the way iTunes was reading the file or something. If it didn't crackle, remove it from iTunes. Then you can move the file back into where it was originally. Add it back to iTunes. Now, remove all your songs from iTunes and, without moving the files, add them back to iTunes.
Before you do this, you might want to make sure that all your songs are in the same place so you don't miss any. You can do this by opening iTunes, and going to File-> Library-> Consolidate Library.
If the previous test didn't help, normally, I would say that you should restore from a backup of the files because they might be corrupted. But you say that you can play them O.K. through Qucktime. If that's the case, than it seems like it must be something with iTunes. I don't know anytying off the top of my head that might help, other than what I already told you.
You might end up just calling Apple tech support.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
Nate

I just purchased Duet 2 and am using it with Garageband 11. I am getting iTunes playbacks through the headphone monitors with Duet 2 but can get no guitar or vocals recorded. I get no volume

I just purchased Apogee Duet 2 and am using it with Garageband 11. I am getting iTunes playbacks through the headphone monitors as per quick startup directions. When I open Garageband I get the same identical stack of guitar and on pedal displayed. I get no sound from the guitar. I believe I have the set up exactly as per diagram and cannot figure things out. I am relatively green at this - my best intentioned purchase now feels like a nightmare!! Help!!

Yes, you can upgrade to Snow Leopard:
Requirements for OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575
The OS 10.6 Snow Leopard install DVD is available for $19.99 from the Apple Store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
and in the UK:
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
but nobody knows for how long it will be available.
When you have installed it, run Software Update to download and install the latest updates for Snow Leopard to bring it up to 10.6.8, or download the combo update from here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
Check via Software Update whether further updates are required.

Playback only works while playing through iTunes

My iPod Classic 5th generation (30gb) works and plays fine while playing music through itunes when the iPod has "manage music and videos" is checked. Any other time when the iPod is not connected to the computer, through headphones or on a dock connector iHome, there is no sound. The songs look to play normally with second bar moving along as normal but no sound is produced.
Any ideas?
Much appreciated.

I have this exact same problem. My 5th Generation 30gb iPod won't play through headphones or my cars auxillary jack anymore; it only plays through iTunes when it's plugged up to my computer. This literally happend overnight and I have no idea how to correct it. Any help please?

Kid A not playing correctly through iTunes

I recently ripped the album Kid A by radiohead into iTunes using the .m4a apple lossless file format. However, iTunes does not play the songs correctly. There is a distinct distortion present when playing the songs through iTunes. Using other applications, such as VLC or Safari to play the songs, they work correctly. Is there a fix for this?
Other information: I have a Mid 2012 Retina Macbook Pro running OS X 10.8.4 (12E55) and am using iTunes version 11.0.4

Hello CTRiley,
I would recommend testing iTunes for 3rd party plugins that may be affecting the playback of these imported songs. Check out this article to help accomplish that.
iTunes: Troubleshooting issues with third-party iTunes plug-ins
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3430
All the very best,
Sterling

Any fix for terrible iTunes playback?

I have several mp3s in my iTunes collection which I recently downloaded from iTunes Music Store and they sounded terrible. Bass was very distorted and treble wasn't that good either. I was of course playing them with iTunes playback. I played these songs through the Mac, my earphones and my sound system and it was the same in each case. I assumed right away that the tunes were just bad recordings and in fact I wrote a review praising the album for its music, but noting that the sound quality was often very poor.
Now, reviewing the threads at this forum, I find that others are having the same problem with iTunes playback on mp3s. As other users found, I tried playing the same songs through Quicktime and they sounded okay. Distortion was gone. Something is seriously wrong here. I'm not talking about a minor flaw that only audiophiles can hear, I'm talking about gross distortion. Users who posted here thought they might have blown a speaker, the sound was that bad.
I will, of course, make a bug report. But meanwhile is there any way to tweak iTunes to get better sound? I can't find any adjustments for iTunes playback at all, but maybe there's away. Thanx

I was able to go a long way to solving my problem by going to Preferences -> Playback, and dragging the setting on "Sound Enhancer" way to the left and un-checking "Sound Check." These features (whatever they are) seem to have been clipping the output sound like running it through a limiter.
Rant: By the way, "Sound Enhancer" and "Sound Check" convey no information. What is "Sound Enhancer" anyway? There is technical language to describe what they do but Apple seems to refuse to use it. It's like the saturation adjustment on my old TV, just called "Picture." How is anybody supposed to know what "Picture" means? "Sound Check" says it "automatically adjusts song playback volume to the same level." Same level as what? I suppose that means that the volume of song A which is loud is adjusted to match song B which is soft. But obviously the outcome is clipping. How can this be achieved without limiting dynamic range? /Rant
Don't know if this fix will work for other users who complain of distortion in playback. Obviously there are users who like Heavy Metal and in that case music and distortion are the same thing.

Audio distortion in iTunes... no distortion with same file in QT...

I've noticed a horrible low-end distortion when listening to audio files in iTunes...it sounds really muddy... almost as if the speakers are blown. However, the distortion is gone when I listen to the same files in Quicktime. I've turned off the Sound Enhancer, gone through every menu setting that I can think of... all EQs are off... I'm clueless. Any clues? Should I reinstall iTunes?

I was sufficiently piqued by this problem to go as far as clean reinstalling the OS to see if any software conflict was interfering with the ITunes playback in this way. I can now tell you that with a pristine computer running 10.5.8, the distortion still occurs. BTW, I upgraded to 10.6 briefly before doing the clean reinstall, and the same distortion was present.
Next step was to throw out ITunes 9 and install 8.2.1 on the clean computer. Guess what? The distortion on the test track (a demo track from a trumpet practice play along CD) is gone!
I think I've definitively established that there is a problem with the audio quality in ITunes 9. I'm not a expert, of course, so I wouldn't know why this would be, but it seems like the new version adds some harmonic distortion somewhere in its output, independently from Quick Time. While this one track is the most noticeable instance (and how my attention was called to this problem in the first place), I can also definitely hear degradation in audio quality comparing HQ MP3s on a computer running 9 vs. 8.2.1, using the same audio interface (Apogee Ensemble) output and monitors.
I hope Apple reads these boards!

Rented a movie from iTunes, playback has stopped and no longer works.

Today I rented and downloaded a movie from the iTunes store. Got about 5 minutes into it and the playback froze.... I tried to fast forward... Nothing. Tried to rewind. Nothing. So I closed iTunes completely and reopened. Now when I try to play the rental, I just get a black screen. I don't want to waste $4.

How to report an issue with Your iTunes Store purchase - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1933 - working through iTunes application and iTunes Store interface.
iTunes Customer Service Contact - http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact.html

When I play a movie through iTunes, audio has no issues but video stutters and skips

Hey everyone,
I have a Dell 17R, Windows 8 64 bit, intel i7-3630QM at 2.4 GHZ, 8gb ram, Nvidia GT-650M at 1920x1080 using driver 320.49
When I play a movie in iTunes, the audio works flawlessly but the video will be smooth for a few seconds, stutter and then skip small 2-3 second spots. I haven't noticed that the parts skipped are any more graphically intense than other spots and there is no discernable pattern.
In the past, I have been able to play movies through iTunes with absolutely no problem but when I downloaded this most recent one a few days ago all of my movies have been experiencing the same issue.
When I stream other videos from other sources I do not experience the same problems as I do when I use iTunes. Streaming 1080P over youtube or a similar services is no issue.
I have updated my video drivers to the latest version as well.
I am at a loss, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Hi there,
I would recommend taking a look at the troubleshooting steps found in the article below.
Troubleshooting iTunes for Windows Vista or Windows 7 video playback performance issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1718
-Griff W.

How can I add a delay to sync iTunes playback with my Sonos system

I have a Sonos multi-room audio system which accesses all my music from a drive on my Airport Extreme base station. These music files are also accessed through iTunes on my Macs.
When I'm at my Macs, I prefer to use iTunes to play my music, so I have an Airport Express which is used as a line-in source for the Sonos system. Using this, I can play my music on a Mac and also have it play through all the other speakers on the Sonos system.
The only drawback is, the Sonos system introduces a slight delay in order to sync the different players, which puts it out of sync with iTunes.
Is there a plug-in or similar that would allow me to introduce a small delay in the playback from iTunes without affecting the feed to the Airport Express?
Thanks in advance.

iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for OS X - Apple Support
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch not recognized in iTunes for Windows - Apple Support

Error at the end of a recovering through iTunes

hi folks,
I've got an iphone 3gs. yesterday, for no reason, after a call, the iPhone rebooted itself and would not stop rebooting itself until i manually turned it off.
I've tried to recover it through iTunes but at the end of the recovering, the following error appears : iphone "iphone" could not be restored error(-1).
First, I don't understand why the iPhone is not recognize. As you can imagine, the name of my iPhone is not "iphone" but iTunes as nammed it iphone.
Then, why the restore doesn't work ?
I cant find out what it means on the internet so i was wondering if you could help me i did the whole restart computer, change usb, try to do it in another computer but it still not recovering
Plesae, help
Thanks,
Ron

Check the iTunes Playback preferences and see if the Crossfade Playback option is turned on. If it is, you can either uncheck it or alter the slider to a more pleasing setting.
Hope this helps.

How many thousands of Apple TV users have to scream their complaints before Apple will respond to the fury over the impossibly slow download speeds of movies bought through iTunes??????

How many thousands of Apple TV users have to scream their complaints before Apple will respond to the fury over the impossibly slow download speeds of movies bought through iTunes?

As jules says, your rate (currently at least) may be slow.
If it used to be good I wonder is your ISP is slowing ('throttling') your speed after you've used so many GB of a quota each day or month - check what they think you should be getting as a download speed.
While Apple's servers do occasionally play up, it's generally the ISP being slow not Apple.
If you're using Google's DNS servers that has caused issues for some.
Recommended speeds for near instant playback:
SD         2.5Mbps
720p      6 Mbps
1080p    8 Mbps
Is your speed test from somewhere like speedtest.net?
It might be helpful to post Mbps to ensure we/you are not confusing speeds by using different units to those measured.
AC

A video I purchased through itunes is playing with delayed sound (audio and visual is not in sync) - very fustrating to watch!

Recently purchased a brand new computer (windows 8 - with more than the minimum requirements to run itunes) and transferred my itunes library over. After transferring everything i then purchased a new release video through the itunes store and it downloaded without any problems. When I went to view the movie in itunes, it started fine but within a few seconds the sound and picture were out of sync. I paused the video for a few seconds and then when i resumed play it was back in sync but only took a fw seconds for it to all fall out of sync again - very fustrating!
The movie plays fine on my iphone...
Is there anyway of fixing this?
If not i will never be purchasing another movie through itunes!

Hi there m.ho,
You may find the troubleshooting steps in the article below helpful.
Troubleshooting iTunes for Windows Vista or Windows 7 video playback performance issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1718
-Griff W.

USB Headphones, sound distortion in iTunes

Hi,
I recently purchased a set of Logitech ClearChat Pro USB Headphones. They do have a specific driver, and are automatically installed when you plug them in. I run 32 Windows Vista.
The sound when listening to music or video through iTunes crackles and pops some. Listening to the same files in Windows Media Player yield no such distortion. I imagine it must have something to do with an audio codec or some quicktime setting, but I am not good enough to know where to start messing around.
Any ideas?
Thank you,
Andy

Hi,
I have same problem with my iTunes 6.
You can try this(Helps for me):
1. From the Start menu, select Settings and open the Control Panel
2. Double-click the Multimedia or Sound, Speech & Audio devices icon,
3. Select Sound and Audio Devices, click the Advanced Audio button
4. Select the Advanced tab then
5. Select the Performance tab and find the Hardware Acceleration slider control
hardware acceleration should be set at full.
sample rate conversion quality should be set at best.
Windows 2000 AMD Athlon XP 2500+

Playing (not stealing) a friend's iPod music through iTunes

I develop an application for control and playback of iTunes from external control systems, and have been asked if we can control playback of the content on an iPod. We set up inexpensive macs to act as music servers, and they want the doctors who come in and use the system to be able to plug their personal player into the system for playback during an operation.
In testing, I can plug in and control any of the three iPods around the house that use our account with no problem. But, if someone brings over an iPod and plugs it into my computer, can I play back the music on it through my computer? It seems reasonable.
+Please no flaming about "Because you're stealing" and the like. I pay for ALL of my songs. It's not the same as taking the music from the iPod with a hack, or keeping a fully-loaded iPod from a friend permanently. It's like someone bringing a CD over for a party and leaving with it afterwards.+

Zevoneer wrote:
If you want to play iPod songs through iTunes you need to change the setting in the iPod's Summary tab to "manually manage songs and videos": Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
Thanks. I'm not sure how that relates. For example, I just plugged my iPhone into my PC that has never seen this iPhone before and the iPhone's music is all grayed out. The "Manually manage.." check is not checked on the PC, where it is checked on my Mac.
Then I plugged my daughter's Touch into the same PC (which also have never been connected) and I can access the music. The "manually manage..." check IS checked... What gives?

Distortion through itunes playback

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