Problems with podcasts encoded with iTunes 8

[ihwtechie]

Mac OS X 10.3.9
Powerbook G4
Audacity 1.3.3
iTunes 7.5

I am having trouble in Audacity with MP3 podcasts encoded with iTunes 8.

When I read in the MP3 audio file for a podcast encoded with iTunes 8.0.2, Audacity shows the wrong time - more than double the actual time - and when I try to play it, there is an annoying loud hammering noise in addition to a slowed down voice. Basically, the file is unlistenable in Audacity. iTunes and my iPod play the file with no problem, just like any old

The podcast was OK when it used iTunes 7 encoder. (It switched back from iTunes 8 to iTunes 7 for a while, and during that time, things were okay. When they switched back to iTunes 8 encoder, the trouble came back.)

Any ideas what's going on? Is there a plug-in I need to handle this? (The file is an MP3 so I don't know how Audacity would differentiate between this and other MP3's that are OK.)

Thanks.

[kozikowski]

You know it's an MP3 because you can see the .mp3 on the end of the filename? Open the file in QuickTime Player and Press Apple-I to get the INFO panel. What does that say?

Conventional iTunes does not use MP3, it uses Apple AAC format which produces music files that play weird in Audacity.

Koz

[ihwtechie]

Yes, it's an MP3, confirmed by Quicktime.

My guess is that the iTunes 8 coder adds some info to the header that Audacity misinterprets.