Why am I getting higher pitched audio when playing videos in ubuntu?

Question

This is a weird question, but it is really happening. I was watching Breaking Bad in the totem player, and Walter White's voice was sounding slightly higher than normal. It wasn't enough for me to think twice about it.

I also noticed it when I was watching YouTube. Everyone's voice is higher whenever I am playing sound.

I have absolutely no idea what could cause this, and I do not know how I could provide information on my Ubuntu settings that might cause this. Does anyone have an idea of what this may be? I am assuming it is happening with all audio, just only noticeable with people's voices. If there is something else I can add here to help you answer this question please let me know.

I am using Ubuntu 13.04

Solution

Not sure what causes this, but executing pulseaudio -k will reset the sound and usually fixes the problem. Its annoying, and would love to know what causes this.

Comments

[Leo]

Did it happen with another players and with another OS in the same computer? Are you listening to that using laptop speakers, external speakers, headphones, bluetooth headphones...?

[KentGeek]

Are you using Google Chrome? This appears to be a bug with the latest release of Chrome. I get this sometimes too, normally running pulseaudio -k, waiting a few moments and then refreshing the page on Chrome works for me

[Zach]

Oh I think it is chrome! I tried firefox and it doesn't happen! I will see if I can find a permanent fix.

[Michal Kováč]

I have tried firefox, chrome, totem and pulseaudio -k from the answer below, but the higher pitch problem remains. Maybe it is caused by some software updates from yesterday/today

[Michal Kováč]

I don't know how it got fixed then, but today after an update this problem appeared again.

[arkascha]

This is not really an answer. "will usually fix the problem" makes little sense without knowing what the actual problem is.