ITunes cant handle VBR LAME mp3s (not anecdotal case, how do I contact tech

Question

I use iTunes primarily on Windows XP. Starting with 6.0.2, playback of MP3's encoded with LAME using VBR settings resulted in problems - namely songs cutting off too early. iTunes has always handled the timing of these mp3's wrong (showcased when the display bar says the song has 0:00 remaining but it's still playing for a good couple seconds), but it's played to the end regardless of what time it thought it was at in the song. Starting with 6.0.2 (and continued in 6.0.3), iTunes simply stops when it reaches what it believes to be 0:00 remaining - meaning songs get cut off early.
I thought maybe it was my computer or my songs or something, so I started testing. First I reinstalled iTunes - no change. Then I reripped my songs, using EAC and --aps (high quality LAME VBR encoding) - still the same problems. These songs, as well as the originals, play on my iPod perfectly (and show the correct time, mind you). All these songs play perfectly in WinAmp and Windows Media Player too, so I'd consider myself 99% sure my songs aren't at fault.
Next was iTunes itself. My iBook laptop running Tiger still had 6.0.1 so I tried the songs there - they worked fine; the time was messed up as usual (just a couple seconds off at max, and only on certain songs, but it's been like this since 4.7 when I started using iTunes), but the songs played all the way to the end. I upgraded the laptop to 6.0.2 and the songs immediately started cutting out a few seconds before the end, at the exact same spot my Windows iTunes cut out (where it thought 0:00 remaining was).
Back on my Win XP desktop, I uninstalled 6.0.2 and reinstalled 6.0.1. My songs still cut out early. I had to remove them from my Library and re-add them to make them play right again. Just for kicks I upgraded my iBook to 6.0.3 to see if the mistake was fixed, but it's still the same - even after a removal and re-addition to the Library, the songs still cut off early.
As I said before, I'm 99% sure this problem is a fault of iTunes, and not a fault of mine. Cross-platform, with songs that should be fault-free (and play as if they are in every other media player I throw them at, as well as iPods themselves, which I feel is pretty telling), so that really just leaves iTunes. Anyone else experience this? Anyone know how I can get in touch with Apple to inform them of this issue? It really feels like they only test stuff with AAC files a lot of the time...

Answer 1

Come on, no one can even tell me how to contact Apple tech support?