Distorted MP3 Playback on OS X Yosemite

Question

mordfustang Author

Level 1

4 points

Distorted MP3 Playback on OS X Yosemite

Hi,

Whenever I try to edit an MP3 file with any music editing software audio files get distorted in the following way:

1- Beginning of file has added seconds of silence

2- Music is sped up a little bit

3- The end of the file is shortened

See the red circles that demonstrate the conditions above in the screenshots for Ableton and Audacity

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37703778/Screen%20Shot%202016-09-09%20at%204 .38.47%20PM.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37703778/Screen%20Shot%202016-09-09%20at%204 .39.39%20PM.png

It happens for every single file, no matter the source. It also happens ONLY for mp3 files, other formats work fine.

The file themselves are good. But the playback is wrong.

I tested this by encoding files to mp3 and back with several programs. The resulting re-encoded file was perfect, not showing any of the 3 conditions above. Therefore the distortion happens on playback-or in my case, when imported to any sound editing software.

-I uninstalled Perian

-Deleted Quicktime, Finder, Itunes .plist files.

-Reset the PRram

-Repaired Permissions

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 9, 2016 1:54 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,221 points

Sep 10, 2016 9:37 AM in response to mordfustang

Try a restart.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferenes, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode - About

Safe Mode - Yosemite

If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

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