How do I make iTunes sound good?

[shov]

iTunes (7) sounds really bad! At first I thought it was just the speakers in my Macbook (C2D, 2Ghz), but it sounds really bad through external speakers as well. Any loud or (not even that) bassy bits get really distorted - it's almost unlistenable!
Is there some setting I need to change somewhere? I've tried turning sound enhancement on and off and all my songs are at 256kbps.
Cheers.

 

[SkyBell]

Try a differnt music app other then iTunes, and see if you still have the same issues. If so, your files may be corrupted.

 

[shov]

They sound alright if burnt onto a cd though, so i'm assuming they're not. i'll give it a try...

 

[mkrishnan]

Check to see if the equalizer is turned on, and if so, if you can change the settings. Also check to see whether Sound Enhancer is on or off and try whichever setting you're not using. Those are the two major things that affect how songs play that don't act on burnt songs to CD.

Also, one more head check... the CD that sounds fine. Does it sound fine when it's being played *FROM* the MacBook?