I'm running Linux Mint Lisa and I'm having problems with media playback. I've installed various music players and codecs, ran through all the sound configuration options but my mp3's still play back in choppy fast forward-the same is true for web video, and I suppose it would be for Mplayer or VLC or what have you with video. Any help would be vastly appreciated.
Soundcard specs, according to ALSA:>
│ │▒▒│ │ 1 [Creative ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Creative │ │▒▒│ >
│ │▒▒│ │ HDA Creative at 0xfeafc000 irq 18
0 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia │ │▒▒│ >
│ │▒▒│ │ HDA NVidia at 0xf9e78000 irq 21 │ │▒▒│

Tried both, neither works right and the problem still persists.

You need to go into the settings for VLC or mplayer or whatever player you use. Then increase the cache size so that you buffer more data before playback begins. That way you won't run out of the data before the song is done. Also, be sure to add the fastest and most RAM your PC can accept or that you can afford.