Distorted System Sounds

[Dave]

Whenever I change the default systems sounds, those files are distorted when
they play. Example, if I change the Empty Recycle Bin sound file from the
default, it will be distorted. When I use the default sounds, they are fine.

I try playing the files through Windows Media Player manually and they play
fine. They are only distorted when they are assigned as a system sound.
Music also plays without any problems. The sound files I am using are the
same files I've used on all of my past computers and laptops and have never
had a problem with them.

System Specs:

Motherboard: Intel P45 Extreme DP45SG
Processor: Intel Q9650
RAM: 8GB DDR3 (4 x 2GB 1333MHz DIMMs)
OS: Vista Enterprise 64 bit with SP1 - fully patched
Audio: Intel Onboard using the latest drivers/software from the Intel site
Graphics: NVidia XFX GeForce 9800GTX+

Has anyone seen anything like this? If so, do you know how to fix it or at
least what the problem is?

Thanks!

 

[trouble]

Do you use hibernate?

 

[Dave]

Nope.

 

[Timothy Davis [MSFT]]

What format are you custom sound files in (.wav/.mp3/.wmv)?

How big are these files?

 

[Dave]

..wav

 

[Dick D.]

.wav

He also asked HOW BIG?

 

[Dave]

Sorry about that. Anywhere from 10K to around 500K. I've tried this with
several different .wav files.

 

[Owen]

I have the SAME issue. with an HP HDX 18 running Vista 64. I looked at the
file sizes on the included system files and they are waaay bigger for the
length of recording than the stuff I wanted to switch to. For instance:
Random system wav file: 1411kbps bit rate. The wave file I wanted to change
to: 88kbps. I am pretty sure that is the problem, the question for our
friends at the "Redmond Mother Ship" is what can we do about it?

 

[Owen]

Dave,

If you are checking these, you'll find out that Microsoft has been NO help.
In their defense, it isn't a vista problem. I had the same issue and
reinstalled drivers and everything. I happened to notice that the defaukt
format on the sound card (Manage Audio Devices--Speakers and
Headphones--Properties--Advanced Tab, the sample rate and audio depth when
running in shared mode was 16 bit, 44100 hz (CD quality) I upped it to the
max (24 bit, 192000 hz (Studio Quality)) and the files work fine. This
SHOULD fix the problem. Cheers!