Choppy Music Playback (Droid Razr HD - drivin' me CRAZY!)

[toupee]

Hi guys,


I purchased a Razr Maxx HD about one week ago and I love it. It's fast, the battery's great, the screen is gorgeous. Honestly, my one complaint is this: when I listen to music, IT'S OFTEN CHOPPY.

It's not like every track is choppy. It's not predictable. Sometimes a track will stutter within 30 seconds. Other times I'll be able to listen to half an album before I hear it. Sometimes it's when I'm doing things on the phone, but more often than not, it's actually while the screen is off. (I could understand the former. But the latter?!) It's jarring and it sucks!

It's certainly not a streaming issue, because the music is on the device. (I'm mainly using Google Play) The amount of free RAM doesn't seem to affect it. Neither does changing the number of background processes in the dev options. Bitrate and file format don't seem to be the culprit, either.

I noticed it first with Google Play Music, but I also tried PowerAmp based on suggestions. The 750ms buffer and the option to prioritize audio threads do seem to get me through more tracks than usual without skips, but they're STILL THERE with the screen off. C'mon!

I'm not really looking for validation, because I know I'm not alone. What I am looking for is folks who have also observed this and actually found a solution to it. Does rooting help? Is there something, anything that can be done?

It's just crazy to me that such an advanced piece of hardware has SUCH trouble playing MP3s. I could fire up my ten-year old iRiver and not hear any skipping. It's so jarring. And it's such a lovely device otherwise!

 

[Tabris DarkPeace]

Use constant bit rate MP3's instead of whatever format you're trying to use now.

Report the problem to the manufacturer.

Uninstall any Battery extender apps.

Try using an app that stops the CPU from idling, this will kill your battery life, but limiting the clock speed to say 125 MHz instead of idle should be enough to decode an MP3 at 128kbps (or maybe not, the ARM processors are a bit weak when it comes to performance per clock).

 

[toupee]

Use constant bit rate MP3's instead of whatever format you're trying to use now.

Report the problem to the manufacturer.

Uninstall any Battery extender apps.

Try using an app that stops the CPU from idling, this will kill your battery life, but limiting the clock speed to say 125 MHz instead of idle should be enough to decode an MP3 at 128kbps (or maybe not, the ARM processors are a bit weak when it comes to performance per clock).

What's an app that can stop the CPU idling on a non-rooted phone?

 

[Tabris DarkPeace]

If you don't want to root the phone for fear of bricking it then contact the manufacturer for further support.
- Nothing said here is official support anyway.

The product is, as supplied, defective if it is unable to play 128kbps constant bit rate encoded MP3's.