Playback anomalies

[funkwarrior]

I use Zulu 2.18 on an IBM Thinkpad T60. I have XP Pro (SP2) with 3 GB of RAM and a 2.3 GHz processor. It's a dedicated DJ laptop with a Creative X_Fi Go Pro external soundcard outputting to the club's mixer.

 

On Saturday night I played a track as part of my soundcheck. I left it in my playlist as I hoped to slot it in once the dancefloor was full. I picked my moment, faded the song in and it seemed to play at half speed (or less) despite my not having touched any controls for sync or pitch. Killed the party stone dead.

 

Does anyone know what causes this and how I can avoid it in future - at bigger gigs?

 

Many thanks!