for my application, i developed a advanced caching algorithm, which loads parts of files regarding there play priority (like a sampler). Also you can skip around and play the same file at different positions.
So it can be that first it read sample #10000 - #20000 first and thereafter 0 - 9999, and put it together later. Somebody has mentioned that QuickTime is introducing some kind of fade-in into the material, but i want to correct this, the codec just needs the information (fft) to reconstruct the amplitude at a certain position. Maybe its a useful information for somebody else, i do this preloading anyway, but i thought it would better fit in the AudioFormat-class.