I am new to the network and upon downloading my first 3 files I noticed that they all have 'cracks' or 'pops' in them.

How can I determine if this is a problem on my end or if the original file I downloaded was corrupted?

Any input or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Well, if you obtained all three files from the same servent, I would suspect that the cause lies with the original files and not your system or connection. I've experienced some of the same results you've described. I found another host for the files and downloaded reasonable pristine copies without extraneous noise. That's the easiest way to assign blame. It's probably the files.