I have a Sandisk Fuze mp3 player (MK1) that has been great, but recently I’ve noticed alot of crackle in the background.

I’ve tried changing the format of a few of the albums from wma to mp3 (192 bit rate) but the crackle is still there. They are ripped using the latest Media Player.

I am wondering either my player is on it’s way out or the original cd may be damaged in some way, although it happens with too many different albums for this to be likely.

I have replaced the headphones so I know this is not the problem.

Any thoughts?

fluff in the headphone port?

Nope, tried that. Plus it only happens with some albums.

Is it consistent? i.e. does song/album ‘A’ always produce crackle, and song/album B doesn’t?

Do you get the crackle when playing them on the computer they were ripped from?

Not a Media Player expert, maybe there is an import setting (like an equaliser) that’s been ramped up too high and the ‘quieter’ albums aren’t hitting the max levels.

No, they sound fine when played on the laptop they were ripped onto. When it is there, the crackle is consistent throughout an entire album, but it doesn’t happen on all albums.