NW-A306 Walkman makes popping noises when skipping tracks in the music app.

[QuiteSomeTrees]

Every few times I skip songs manually or play/pause songs or start songs I hear a little sharp pop or click

They don't have a specific pattern of occurence. They just occur every few plays and skips. They vary in volume from barely hearable to very well hearable. Sometimes they are on both left and right channel. Sometimes only on a single channel. They also occur no matter the headphones.

Also this happens only with the Walkman Music Player app. Streaming apps and web radio do not have this problem. It also happens no matter which sound settings are on or off.

Music is read both from a SD card and internal in MP3, FLAC. 

This is annoying. Do you have an idea what is going on?

[QuiteSomeTrees]

Dear Sony, if you are reading this, I found out what the problem is: The Sony Music player. It lacks proper ramping between audio activity, thus the sharp noises. 

Poweramp and other players with soft ramping have no issues at all. 

This is quite embarrassing for a dedicated music player software. 

I sincerely hope you fix it in future updates.

Until then, Poweramp Player is the way to go. 

[TheMaze]

It's totally normal that you hear slight clicks or pops between tracks. It depends on how the player compensates it.

[QuiteSomeTrees]

That is the thing. It does not. Every third party player app I tried has a better in/out ramp. It is Sony's play that causes severe pops. 

[TheMaze]

Did you check if the firmware of your Walkman is up-to-date?

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/digital-music-players-nw-nwz-a-series/nw-a306/software/00...

Also, check if there are any updates available for the player as well