If it isn't already, try putting it into your project as a WAV file; see if that make a difference.

The source is from an unknown narrator in Canada through my client there. Here is what media info says...

Here are some other things I tried. I opened a new project in Vegas 12, which is what I used in the original edit many months ago. I dragged the French narration file into that new project. And, got the same intermittent audio drop-outs.

The issue gets more complex. I loaded the French file into Adobe Audition and saved it as a monaural 44.1k file. My music is 44.1k. That file now plays perfectly; However, the English narration, which worked before now exhibits some of the characteristics I earlier described, i.e., intermittent loss of audio plus occasional sounds that seem to come from a different file....maybe the French file. Sometimes this is just a partial word or syllable. Very strange.

To Jack W. Thanks. But, I believe it is a Wave file, at least that's what Media Info says.

To David-tu: Why did I make it 44.1k? I'm grasping at straws. I was curious if mixing the bit rates of the music file at 44.1k and the 48k narration was germane. Although, I have mixed audio bit rates on dozens of projects with no problems. Could this be a memory issue? Maybe I need to do a memtest.

Did you try rebuilding the peak files (from the "View" menu or pressing Shift+F5)?

I just tried rebuilding peak files. No effect. I am at a loss. I get the same issues in both Pro12 and Pro14. Interestingly, the glitches are repeatable. If I get an audio drop out or 'interference' from another audio file it will continue to occur at the exact spot no matter how many times I play it. I also get bits of random audio files interrupting the file on the time line, which I have soloed. In one instance it is part of a single word that occurs earlier in the same audio file. In another instance it is a bit of music..maybe from the music track. At this point, I think my French track is playing reliably; however, I am reluctant to go ahead with the edit until I discover the problem. This little corporate product video has many lower thirds that will require text replacement with the new language. I'll have to stretch some scenes to accommodate the different language. I don't want to press ahead compensating for the problem only to find out later that I have to do the work over. Thanks everyone for your ideas. I'm grateful as always for what I learn here and the help I've gotten in the past.

I'm absolutely no expert on audio, just a long shot, have u tried zooming all the way into the audio file in vegas to see if something is amiss?

Mixed sample rate audio files are typically not a problem for VP. Make sure your A/V properties are set optimally. A hidden audio file could cause issues, so check and/or clean the project media. "Tools> Clean project media" Also check your channel and master audio busses for unwanted plug-ins that could be running. In previous VP versions, some audio plugs were added by default (as I recall, a comp, gate and something else).<br> Is there a way to post the wave file online?, the mono 44.1k would suffice.

In previous VP versions, some audio plugs were added by default (as I recall, a comp, gate and something else).

You still get gate, EQ and compressor by default on an audio track in VP14. Never known them to cause a problem but it's worth trying to delete them.

I'm not alone in this problem. I found this thread on the COW Vegas Forum: https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/24/986228. If anyone has ideas after reading that thread please offer them. Not sure what I am going to do to finish this edit. I may try one poster's solution, which is to convert all WAVE files to MP3. My bigger fear is that this issue will continue to occur on future projects. I've been using Vegas Pro since V4. I am on my third PC build with Vegas. Up until this issue I have never had problems with the software. Guess I'm not bullet proof.

Just finished the audio portion of the edit. I used a work-around I read in one the posts on the Cow forum; I converted the narration files from Wave to MP3. None of the glitches I had before occurred. As a former recording engineer/music mixer going to a compressed file type really goes against my grain, but when you have to get a job out the door you do what you have to do. I really would like to know the why of the sudden appearance of the problems. Maybe the last Windows 10 update.

I've seen a couple of reports abut problems with WAV files recently (here's one). I'm starting to wonder if there is a problem with a recent Windows update or something.

Could you share samples of the problem files somewhere (e.g. Google Drive/Dropbox/WeTransfer) for others to test?

Nick...I think it may be an issue with the most recent Windows 10 Update. I prepared a small project with the thought of uploading it along with the audio files and a PNG video placeholder. Using Markers I identified where random bits of sound occurred, bits that may or may not have been from the timeline file. Next I rendered a short section of the project to MP4. The MP4 played perfectly, no audio problems. I then looked at my project again. When playing the timeline the audio was perfect. In addition, the wave form, which earlier had showed missing bits accompanied by sound drop out in those areas, looked normal. Simply the act of rendering the project seemed to allow the included wave files to play normally. Next, I closed that test project and created a new project. I inserted the same audio as before. In this project the files played perfectly. Somehow, the act of rendering the files earlier had made the problem go away. This may make sense to someone who understands codecs and how Windows handles audio. However, not being satisfied with one successful project creation with the formerly troublesome audio files, I created another project, brought in the same audio files. Again, no problem with playback.

Is the problem solved on my computer? Probably too soon to tell. Is the problem in Vegas software? I am thinking it is not. However, since other people are experiencing issues with WAVE files in Vegas maybe there is a problem with the Vegas code. A couple of days ago, when I first noticed the audio problems with wave files, I opened the client project I was working on in both Vegas Pro 12 and Vegas Pro 14. The audio problems playing the wave files were present in both 12 and 14. All of this morning's tests were done in V14. So, it remains a mystery. And, it seems that I am not the only one who has experienced similar issues. I have from time to time had audio files with normal looking waveforms play as if I had slowed them down drastically. Closing the project and rebooting the computer in each case allowed me to proceed with my work. So, this and other peoples' experiences may suggest Vegas does have intermittent audio problems....but it could just as logically be a Windows problem.

I tried to capture the Vegas screen using Action. That would have shown the actual audio glitches. However, I had problems with Action not recording the sound, and I gave up. Thanks to all who have offered comments and suggestions. I'll follow up if the problem reoccurs.

Which update that possibly makes trouble?