Poor sound quality since 7.3.1 update.

Has anyone else noticed a reduction in the playback quality of iTunes since the last update?
I've used 160 kbps as an import setting, which has been fine in the past (even with 7.3) but now I've noticed that there is 'fritzing' and distortion in many songs which wasn't there previously. Music with large, resonant string sections seems to suffer the most. I realise that as mp3s, there are limitations to sound quality because of file compression, but it really seems to have worsened since the 7.3.1 update.
I'd be grateful for any feedback just so that I can establish whether it's another 7.3.1 update glitch or whether there's something else going on in my system.
Thanks.

Hi Jere7my, thanks for replying.
I opened a couple of tracks which seemed to suffer the most using the Quicktime player and they sound fine. Weirdly, when I play the same tracks in the preview pane of the MP3 'Info' using the default iTunes player, they sound fine too. The loss of quality only seems to occur when I listen to them using the main iTunes app. I can't get my head round it. I definitely haven't got the 'Sound Enhancer' on (it's never improved things, in my opinion) and I've installed nothing but the updates.
My ipod has retained the better sound quality.
I'm flummoxed.

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