Just an update on my individual situation: I am using XP SP3.
I have all 17 songs I'm using in the show set up as WAV files, which were created through iTunes and a Mac application called Amadeus II (similar to Audacity).
The properties of the files are:
*Bit rate: 1411kbps
*Audio sample size: 16 bit
*Channels: 2 (stereo)
*Audio sample rate: 44 kHz
*Audio format: PCM
These files have played flawlessly for 13 days and I don't anticipate any problems in the future.
BTW, I converted to WAV long before xLights — I realized in 2009 that MP3 requires decompression and my puny circa 1999 Pentium III needed all the help it could get, so I started using WAV files in order to skip the decompression step.
HTH.
\dmc