mp3 started to sound weird

[notb665]

Please help - I really don't know what is going on. I don't know if it's my computer, or Cool Edit Pro, or what.

I use CEP2 for home recording and also for the cut/paste/slow down/transpose features (as I am a guitar teacher). All of a sudden, mp3s have started to sound tinny and I can hardly hear the vocals. Sometimes they have a kind of spacy gurgling sound. The same file through Windows Media Player sounds fine. mp3s that I loaded into CEP before and sounded fine now sound weird. Mixdowns in .wav format sound fine, but when saved as mp3 go gurgly/spacy.

So how come my mp3s have started to sound funny? I don't *think* I've changed any settings.

I'm at a loss, and have considered uninstalling CEP and installing it again.

[chrisharris]

So you're saying it's only when playing back in CEP that the mp3's sound weird? Or do they sound weird after you've opened them in CEP and saved them again?

The reason I ask is because, technically, CEP doesn't play mp3's. It only plays wave files. Whenever you open an mp3 up in CoolEdit, it should be converting it to a wave file (well, it actually doesn't convert it, it makes a new file, which is a wave file, and that's what it plays back). So my guess would be that something has gone screwy with your "decoding" process in CEP, but I've never read or heard about this problem before. Reinstalling sure can't hurt, lol.

Good luck, and post back.

[chrisharris]

It's odd though...what you're describing sounds like something is kicking the file totally out of phase...or inverting it somehow...you're describing the sound that a file makes when you've hit the "vocal eliminator" preset, but that's not something you can do by accident...I mean, you have to do it as an effect, so ...again...I'm clueless here.

[notb665]

Thanks for your replies. I have tried to find the vocal eliminator preset but can't find it - please advise!

Something weird has happened - I had to select view envelopes and enable in-line editing of these envelopes when I have always had these on.