No audio and time skipping when using 3rd party players

[Markus_DE]

When using any 3rd party media player, no matter if I am playing MP3s or videos, I don't hear any audio and there is some weird time skipping going on (timeline playback frequently speeds up so 2x up to 4x speed every other second, then goes back to regular speed, then speeds up again...).

I've tried PlayerPro, Poweramp and MixZing. All have exactly the same problem. The built-in Walkman app works just fine, but does not offer the functionality I want.

Current Build is 14.2.A.1.136 (Android 4.3). Got the phone just a couple of days ago and already have such problems - very frustrating.

Is there anything I can do to fix this (except returning the phone and getting a different model)?

I searched Google for this problem but didn't find anyone having the same symptoms. Considered trying this tweak:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z/development/soundmod-purexaudio-v22-final-t2190558

...but it doesn't seem to be a very trustworthy source and I have no idea if this could even remotely fix the problem, so if I were to try this at all, it would be a very last resort.

Any hint is appreciated.

[Alexander1]

Hi and welcome to the community! Since you're new please be sure that you have checked out our Discussion guidelines.

This sounds quite strange. Do you have any accessories (like headset, speakers, charger) connected when you are experience this? Or do you experience this without anything connected too? 

Have you had only one 3rd party music player installed in your phone and you are experience the same behavior?

[Markus_DE]

Hi Alexander,

thanks for your reply.

No, I haven't tried installing only one 3rd party player at a time, will try that next - thanks for the suggestion.

In the meantime, I can clarify the symptoms a bit more since I could observe the behaviour more closely now:

• audio is in fact being played in all players, but only the first few seconds, after which the audio can no longer be heard
• I have since installed yet another player, VLC beta, which played the audio for significantly longer (about 20 seconds) before going mute. Also, VLC so far is the only 3rd party player that does *not* seem to have the time skipping issue.
• I have tried to disable ClearAudio+ and all other sound enhancements, but it does not seem to make any difference

I'll report back after testing with only one 3rd party player at a time.

Regards,

Markus

[Markus_DE]

Okay, I did some more testing:

• uninstalled all other media players except the stock ones (Walkman / Google Play Music)
• reinstalled Player Pro
• RESULT: Same symptoms as described above
• uninstalled Player Pro
• reinstalled Poweramp
• RESULT: No more time-skipping, I have audio for about 20 seconds (like I had before only in VLC), but after that audio mutes.

Additional observations:

• When I pause playback for a few seconds and then resume playing after the sound went away, I can hear sound again. But only if I really pause for at least a second or two - when I just quickly pause/unpause in less than a second, the audio stays mute. Of course, the sound will then go away again after a few seconds, so I'd have to repeat this a lot.
• The sound will also stop playing when the screen is off, no matter if I switched it off manually or by screen timeout. It will play on for about a second and then mute..

Poweramp settings I've tried, to no avail:

• Deactivated Audio Focus
• Use maximum audio buffer
• Deactivated Direct Volume Control

I didn't see other settings that I thought might relate to the problem.

And to answer another of your questions: This is without any periphery or USB connection, just playing over speaker with no cables connected. I tried with a Bluetooth speaker once, but it did not make any difference.

This is getting stranger by the minute.

[Markus_DE · Accepted solution]

Okay, I have found the solution and here it is just in case anyone should encounter the same problem in the future:

• go to settings
• go to apps
• select Walkman app
• click "Deactivate"
• reboot the phone
• PROFIT

As it turns out, the problem for the other players seems to have been caused by the Walkman app. Once no longer active on the system, other players like Poweramp or Player Pro no longer have problems with time skipping or muted audio. The audio is also no longer discontinued when the screen is off.

Why exactly this is I have no idea, but it works for now 🙂