I just got back from Best Buy to test their new model.
They had both an iPad Air and Air 2.
I decided to compare both and their Air 2 did the same thing.
My comparison for both devices was the following:
Step 1) Start Playing Music by going to itunes and sampling a song
Step 2) Go to Settings => Music => Eq
Step 3) Select 'Late Night' or Jazz and Toggle back between the two
Comparing two devices
On the iPad Air 2 When doing that the sound cuts out and a "Pop" noise in made
One the iPad Air When doing the above steps the sound cuts out but NO pop.
If you select other EQ Settings such as classical or Electronic, there is no cut out or pop in either device.
So my guess is when the software is switching the signal that is sent based on the users setting such as Jazz,
is too much for the component so it cuts out.
The component on the iPad Air doesn't pop and just pauses for the split second but on the iPad Air 2 the component must be weaker or can only handler a smaller signal and the OS sends a signal that is considerably beyond the maximum, causing the "popping sounds" we are experiencing.
So I don't think anything is broken but rather a component for whatever reason is not sufficient enough to handle the signal being sent
and it gets worse on the Air 2 and causes popping.
Not sure if a patch can fix it or it will come down to returning or living with it.