How can I analyze an audio download to see WHERE the distortion is coming from?

This is technical qustion in that I'm trying to understand why under one circumstance the sound is fine while on the other circumstance the sound is garbled, as if it's overdriven.

So this is a technical debugging question, so saying the app f***ed up isn't really a technical debug or to say use another app isn't really a solution to the problem.

I can't debug or solve what I don't yet understand, so this is a technical debugging question.

On Android, I can listen to a Youtube video using FDroid's youtube lookalike app called "New Pipe" and the sound is fine.

I can also download that wbem movie (or just the m4a audio) from within NewPipe and play in VLC on Android.

No matter what movie I download, when I play that downloaded movie or audio in VLC, the sound is "overdriven" in that I have to lower the volume just to hear the words more clearly. But I don't have to lower the volume when playing in NewPipe (or in Youtube itself).

The volume is the same (as far as I can tell) in terms of decibels, but the sound is garbled. So this has something to do with frequency or distortion.

My technical qusetion is how can I analyse the results to see WHERE the audio distortion in the downloaded audio track is coming from?

You probably can't.

Audiophiles are getting into getting these stand alone DACs for better qual ity. They pick up the data stream from the USB port and do the converting i ndependently from the soundcard in the PC. Soundcards in PCs vary greatly i n quality, and it seems to be a totally independent issue than the quality of the PC. (or MAC for that matter, which is also a PC)

I have what used to be my server until the CAT5 cable went bad with an elch eapo Foxconn board in it. It has a pretty good soundcard and feeds my stere o which used to be pretty good. It was until I got that Phase Linear amp an d now half the speakers are blown. Then there is my laptop, I bought these because they have a big screen and full keyboard, but found that the sound sucks. It is compressed, lke AM radio compressed, and has been described a s such when connected to the amp and speakers.

What I found to work to help it is to take the volume control OF THE PLAYER and turn it way down. This is NOT the volume control of Windows in the low er right. Same with youtube.