Cubase 10 mp3 audio import time-shifted?

I have pair of files (not generated in Cubase). One is a wav file, and one is an mp3 version of the same audio (snare drum hits with sharp transients for timing tests).

If I look in an audio editor like RX, I see that the first transient starts at the same time in each file.

However, if I pull both files into Cubase 10 onto separate tracks and set the part start times both at 0, I get an offset. The mp3 audio looks like its about 50 ms late compared to the wav data.

The 50-ish ms late shift appears to remain constant across the length of the audio (as opposed to being time compressed/expanded). In the pool, “musical mode” is not checked.

Is this a known issue?

MP3s created with some encoders have padding…I think it’s to enable gapless playback.

Some programs will read this delay from the tags and hide this…Cubase doesn’t.