Audio skips when changing volume

[pullmystrings]

I purchased the S2 from T-Mobile about two months ago, and it worked fine until a few weeks ago. When adjusting the volume while listening to music or playing a game, the audio skips/cuts out momentarily. I've tried using several different music player apps (N7, Now Playing, Fusion, Google Play), and it happens on all of them. For whatever reason, it doesn't happen when using the stock music player (yet). I feel like it may have something to do with the MusicFX app that came pre-installed on the phone.When I go to Music Effects in Settings and select MusicFX, I always get an error message that says, "Unfortunately, MusicFX has stopped", and the phone will freeze for a few moments. Another thing I find rather odd is it doesn't seem to skip when I use Fusion and completely turn the EQ off. It's never skipped while using YouTube or Netflix.

I've tried uninstalling and re-installing various apps, disabling MusicFX, and have reset the phone several times to no avail. I called T-Mobile, and they told me to send the phone in for a replacement, but I'm hesitant to do so because I've heard nothing but horror stories about refurbished phones. Since it's obviously still under Samsung's warranty, I could send it in for repair but am a little wary because it's likely I'll just get a refurbished one back from them, as well.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I've never had any other issues with the phone, and I find it quite odd that the issue ceases when using the stock music player. Does anyone know what could possibly be causing this issue and how to get rid of it?

 

[HNNNNNGHHH]

Have you done anything to the phone software wise which may have messed with system components? (Root, ROM,etc)

Regarding your experience with refurbished phones, I've never dealt with such horrific experiences at all. Any refurbished replacements I've used worked as good as new, if not even better than my previous units.