(Edit: I've tracked this down to a problem with my Apple Display Speakers, of all things. Something about the way the video stereo sound was jumping back and forth between Left and Right was blitzing the speaker for one channel. I finally figured it out by listening to it on ear buds. My apologies to the community for this dumb question; I thought it was something more interesting than a bad speaker.)
I have a Mac Pro, running Mountain Lion. A client gave me a DVD to rip with some news footage on it (legally acquired). The strange thing is, the DVD sound does not play correctly on my computer, and my computer only. The stereo tracks seem to cut in and out. I've had this problem with no other file, and every other computer in the office plays it fine. After we ripped it to mp4 on another computer, I put it in Premiere Pro CS6 and FCP7, the wave forms are there, but no sound comes out, and the Levels meter for that track doesn't move. The cutting in and out seems to coincide with edits made by the original editor. I finally had to hand it off to someone else to convert. Even after he converted it to a Quicktime movie, my computer will still not play the sound correctly. However, all other stereo videos I've tried play correctly.
Does this phenomenon ring a bell with anyone? Could I have a plug in or something that is corrupting this one file?
Thanks for any feedback.
