[vox-tech] mp3 files sound like alvin and the chipmunks

[Darrick Servis]

What sound drivers are using?  OSS, ALSA, ARTS, ESD.  My guess is the sample 
rate being output by the mp3 app is different from the sample rate of your 
sound driver.  Some cheap soundcards only output at 48Khz.  Any bitrates 
below 128kbps most likely decode to a rate below 44.1Khz, then they are 
playing a higher rate thus the chipmunk sound.  Most apps and sound drivers 
check all this as it is one of the basics of audio programming.

I'd guess your sound driver is broken. 

-- Darrick

On Tuesday 22 April 2003 08:49 am, Jonathan McPherson wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Since you folks were so helpful with setting up exim (which is now
> working happily) ... thought I'd throw this one out.
>
> I have a fairly large number of MP3 files (all legal (-:). Many of
> my friends are interested in music and have sent me recordings of
> themselves in MP3 format. These recordings seem to inevitably sound like
> Alvin and the Chipmunks when they play back.
>
> I've since discovered that every Linux MP3 player I can find seems to be
> completely incapable of playing files encoded at under 128kbps. I have a
> few gigabytes of MP3s from CDs I own and music I have written at 128 and
> 160kbps, and it _all_ plays with no problems, despite being encoded with
> a wide variety of encoders over the span of several years.
>
> I've tried several different players -- XMMS, mpg321-based players, etc.
> I've done quite a few Google searches, but I've had little luck. One guy
> on mpc.lists.freebsd.current had the same problem, but that was in '99
> and no one seems to have given him any suggestions since then.
>
> I'm a fairly recent convert to Debian, actually -- before Debian, I used
> Gentoo. (I'll tell you folks why I switched if you're curious. (-:) It
> had the same problem.
>
> Anyone seen this before or have ideas about where the problem might lie?
>
> Jonathan.