Audio spikes when playing VBR audio files

Heya, first time poster here.

I've noticed that my Note 5 can't properly play audio files with a variable bitrate (So far I've only tested mp3 v0). It's totally random, but anywhere between a second to a few minutes, you can hear these really annoying popping or skipping sounds, like you were playing it off a scratched up CD. Again, I'm only seeing the issue with mp3 v0 files. Any audio files with CBR don't seem to have this issue. I can tell it's definitely some kind of software issue because of that fact, not to mention it happens with both the built-in speaker and through the headphone jack.
I've tried multiple audio files, as well as multiple audio playback apps. I've tried restarting the phone, and even a factory reset. I have a feeling that this won't be alleviated by simply exchanging the phone for a new one, but if I can't find a solution by the time my two weeks are up, I'll probably end up just turning it in anyway.

If anyone out there is willing to test it out on their Note 5, I'd really appreciate it.