WMP poor sound quality

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Rick - 04 Jul 2008 15:29 GMT

My WMP 11 plays MP3 files with muddy and distorted sound. RealPlayer,
Cakewalk, MP3 Maker, etc. all play these same files clear as a bell on my XP
system. Is WMP simply a poor quality player?

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Dave K - 04 Jul 2008 17:20 GMT

. I had the same problem. After a great deal of fiddling around I
uninstalled all players (WMP couldn't be uninstalled) and disabled WMP's
codecs in the device manager (right click on My Computer, select Manage). I
located and deleted the codec files. Then I downloaded and installed new
codecs. This worked, and I set a restore point before reinstalling any other
players. I suspect Itunes may have been part of my problem, not sure.

> My WMP 11 plays MP3 files with muddy and distorted sound. RealPlayer,
> Cakewalk, MP3 Maker, etc. all play these same files clear as a bell on my
> XP
> system. Is WMP simply a poor quality player?

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Rick - 05 Jul 2008 19:46 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion. I stripped out all other players, removed the
codecs, and even stripped the sound card driver. No change in the problem.
Microsoft stuff is sooooooooooo much more trouble than it's worth.

> .. I had the same problem. After a great deal of fiddling around I
> uninstalled all players (WMP couldn't be uninstalled) and disabled WMP's
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> > XP
> > system. Is WMP simply a poor quality player?

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Rick - 05 Jul 2008 21:12 GMT

Problem solved! An earlier post had the solution. I turned of the equalizer
and the problem disappeared. I guess the WMP codec just can't handle the
equalizer.

> My WMP 11 plays MP3 files with muddy and distorted sound. RealPlayer,
> Cakewalk, MP3 Maker, etc. all play these same files clear as a bell on my XP
> system. Is WMP simply a poor quality player?

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Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media] - 07 Jul 2008 23:56 GMT

The codec happens *before* the equaliser ;-)

It's more likely its your speakers that can't take the boosted
frequencies without distorting (possible the speakers have other
settings which boost the EQ still further, such as treble/bass
controls)

This is particularly common with USB powered speakers and laptop
speakers which just aren't up to much.

HTH
Cheers - Neil

>Problem solved! An earlier post had the solution. I turned of the equalizer
>and the problem disappeared. I guess the WMP codec just can't handle the
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>> Cakewalk, MP3 Maker, etc. all play these same files clear as a bell on my XP
>> system. Is WMP simply a poor quality player?

------------------------------------------------
Digital Media MVP : 2004-2008
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs

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