i have a file playing at original tempo, without any warp marker. when i change from re-pitch or tone mode to complex, i can ear a difference in the high frequency range.
i think playing back a file at its original tempo, whatever the mode is should leave it untouched.
complex warp mode alters sound
i did some testing with this a while back. i am a bit fuzzy on exactly what happened, but i think that you are correct. all warp modes except complex do not alter the audio unless the tempo changes. you can verify this with the phase-flipping test.
however, complex mode seems to alter the audio even at original tempo. this is why my clips were sounding like shit when i consolidated them with my preferences set to auto-warp complex mode. the samples were rendering through complex warp and then getting put into complex warp AGAIN, leading to crappy high end distortion as you have heard.
however, complex mode seems to alter the audio even at original tempo. this is why my clips were sounding like shit when i consolidated them with my preferences set to auto-warp complex mode. the samples were rendering through complex warp and then getting put into complex warp AGAIN, leading to crappy high end distortion as you have heard.