PS3 - Audio hiccups in Amazon Instant Video (updated with some interesting info)

Does anyone else get brief audio hiccups while watching content on the Amazon Instant Video app?


The other day I picked up a 12 GB super slim PS3 (purely for blu-rays and streaming), and everything seems fine except for one issue: In the Amazon Instant Video app, seemingly randomly, the sound will drop/cut out for just a split second. It's almost hard to notice, but it's definitely happening. It happens anywhere from a few times a minute to once every minute or two.

• Video in the Amazon Instant Video app is fine; the problem is strictly with audio.
• Doesn't happen with Amazon Instant Video on Wii U, PC, or Sony BDP-S3100 blu-ray player.
• Tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Amazon Instant Video app. No change.
• Tried multiple different TV shows and movies—happened on all of them.
• Tried a different, known-good optical audio cable (receiver doesn't take HDMI). No change.
• Tried a different, known-good audio input on receiver. No change.
• Had no trouble with other devices on same cable and same audio input on receiver.
• Tried different audio settings on the PS3, such as DTS-only and Dolby-only. No change.
• PS3 is wired to a gigabit router.
• Tried audio multi-output on the PS3. No change.
• Happens to audio over both optical audio cable and HDMI.
• Audio over HDMI (using TV speakers instead of receiver) is even worse; it has crackling sounds much more frequently than the audio cutting out using the optical audio cable.

UPDATE: I brought my 12 GB super slim PS3 to a friend's house and replicated the issue there. His 250 GB super slim PS3 had no issues. This means my PS3 had the same issue in two entirely different home theaters—different cables, different receiver, different TV, etc. No models of anything were the same. I exchanged mine for another 12 GB model, and had the same exact issue with the replacement, as well. It seems that the 12 GB super slim PS3 doesn't jive well with the Amazon Instant Video app, at least as of the writing of this update. As far as I know, the only difference between 12 GB and other super slim models is that the 12 GB model uses flash storage on the motherboard, whereas the others have an actual hard drive. For some reason, the Amazon Instant Video app doesn't work well with that hardware configuration.