For a while, I noticed that whenever I tried playing mp3s in either rhythmbox or xmms, the audio was very distorted, especially at low frequencies. I FINALLY figured out how to fix the problem: If I turn the volume down almost all the way in rhythmbox/xmms and turn up the volume on my speakers, the mp3s sound perfect. When, on the other hand, I have the volume up all the way in the software and my speakers turned lower, the mp3s sound like crap.

What's the reason for this? I've never noticed this on Windows. Although I have to admit, I"m just glad to have clear-sounding music again

i've run into similar problems before, and in windows -- it is amplified when feeding sound from one PC to
another. i've always assumed it was some kind of distortion.

I fixed this by running alsamix and lowering the PCM setting.
Got rid of that overdriven sound.

cheers

I didn't realize there was such a thing. Thanks for the heads up, hkxx!

(And FYI for anyone else, it appears to actually be "alsamixer")

Oops!

Thanks for the correction. Did it help you out?

cheers

It did, thanks again! It was set at 100%, so I dropped it to 50%. My ears have been in bliss ever since

Scott