Phone sound and application problems-seeking help. iPhone

Hello all,
I have spent the past 2 hours using the search function trying to identify a fix to the problems I have with my phone, without huge amounts of luck.
1) Sound distortion
I recently decided to update my iphone with some new music after leaving stuff on there for a couple of months, which involved an update to 2.2.1.
Now, this could be related or completely independent but I get a distortion when listening to music through the ipod function.
The distortion is not that of crackles, it just sounds odd - imagine Babylon Zoos voice for Spaceman on everything.
Now, its not just the new songs this affects (suggesting EQ problems) but its the old stuff which I know for a fact was working fine.
I have tried multiple sets of headphones (including buying a new pair as I thought it was those initially), and I get the same issues.
Any ideas how to fix, I really dont want to have to do a restore of iPhone for nothing (see below)
2. Applications all closing
For some reason my applications keep dropping off and closing, read that should restore to factory settings the phone to correct. But some of my applications you cannot get your mitts on anymore (e.g. Tris) and not looking forward to losing them.
Any ideas how to fix this also?
Some form of guidance or wise words would be most appreciated.
Kind regards,
Oakleh
Message was edited by: Oakleh
Iphone 3g