My iPod Shuffle 4Gen is playing back songs at a slightly slower than the original songs. Is there some way to speed them up?

These are digital files, so I don't think that's possible. It's not like an analog record or tape player with a weak motor that is not spinning as fast as before. In fact, I think it would take some effort and special programming to intentionally make a digital music file play slower.

As a test to confirm this is really happening, use clock/watch with seconds (or an actual stopwatch), and time how long it takes to play a song in iTunes. Use something that is at least 5 minutes long. Then, play the same song on the shuffle, and time it the same way. To make sure it is the exact same song file (since the shuffle has no screen to confirm), and it's not (coincidentally) a different recording of the same song, for this test, load the shuffle with ONLY that one song. See if there is a difference in the time it takes to play that song.

The tempo is just a beat or so slower.

I'm wasn't asking about "tempo," because that can be influenced by perception. So you actually used a separate "stopwatch" to independently TIME the playing of the exact same song file on your computer, using iTunes, and on the iPod shuffle. And they were noticeably different? How long was the test song, and what was the difference in playing time?

Also I never indicated that anyone would intentionally make a digital music file play slower (though there are apps that can do this - Google it!)

I know there is software to do this, and that's my point. What I'm saying is that to intentionally make it happen, it takes special software and processing (those custom apps). It can't happen accidentally, because it is a digital device playing a digital file.

I've seen other people asking the same question online but like I said, no answers.

Apple sells tens of millions of iPods every year. There are bound to be hundreds of reports of every kind... (whether true or not).

BUT, if you say you timed playing the song with a stopwatch (using iTunes on computer and using iPod shuffle) and they are noticeably different, I will believe you.

(Pick a test song that has a definite end point, not one that fades out, so you can easily tell were the "end" is on both the iTunes playback and shuffle playback.)

Why would I be "hostile"? I'm just having trouble believing what you describe is actually happening.

To figure out what is happening, please answer the specific questions. Did you actually TIME the playback using an independent timer of some type? You keep saying it is "slower," but that can be influenced by perception. Timing how long it takes to play the song (in iTunes on computer and on shuffle) is definite proof that cannot be influenced by perception.

(Pick a test song that has a definite end point, not one that fades out, so you can easily tell where the "end" is on both the iTunes playback and shuffle playback.)

So... These are the questions that may help solve the mystery. 🙂

What does iTunes say is the song's length?

Using your independent timer, how long does it take to play the song in iTunes? Since the comparison is with a shuffle, after starting the playback, do not look at the screen to determine when the song ends.

Using the same timer, how long does it take to play the song using your shuffle?

The timer does not need to be super-precise. It can be a wall clock or wristwatch with a second hand. You just need to time it to within a second or two.

It does not matter if you are "100% sure" or not, or even if I believe you or not....

Post the actual times you measured, including what iTunes says is the song's length. That will provide a percentage of difference between the two. That may be helpful to determine the cause for this problem.

NOT answering my specific questions with specific answers does not help...

Same thing happened to me with my iphone 4... not sure why but all of my songs play slightly slower than the original song and it's annoying.

I play it back with VLC player / windows media player and it plays fine but when it plays in iTunes they play sligtly slower.

The differnce is so small that I think It would be very difficult capture the seconds of a difference between the two.

All I can tell is that the beat is off.

I hope I can find a fix.

I have two ipod touch 1st and 2nd generation. Both units have the problem Mitchell4444 described and play audio a tiny bit slower that the original songs. Anyone out there knowledgeable what's causing it??