Pulse-audio "brown outs" (like a half second cross fade)

[Zenaan Harkness <zen@freedbms.net>]

Running sid, xfce, and just today, pulse audio.

Occurs with at least two mp3 files (didn't happen in past, been some
months since I played any audio).

Tried from: mplayer command line, vlc gtk gui, and audacious gtk.

Same in all cases.

Part way through a track, I get what sounds to me like a cross-fade
over about half a second or less.

The point in time during a track where this occurs is not consistent.
Has occurred near start of track, alternatively towards end of track,
sometimes repeat occurrence just a few seconds apart (this is
happening somewhat consistently just now).

Do I need to go back to simple alsa (xfce?) mixer?

TIA
Zenaan