Whilst much more experienced users may find some way to wave the magic wand to solve your problems, the range and extent of your problems seems to suggest that you may simply have been sufficiently unfortunate to have purchased a defective unit…
I’d be tempted to simply return the unit, and obtain a replacement…
I assume that you have been attempting to load and play recordings at a reasonably high (128bps or higher) bit-rate…
Intermittent popping or bubbling sounds do occasionally appear (but only between tracks) on my 8GB Clip, but since I routinely give my unit a fairly challenging job (replaying recordings as 1411bps .wav files) I don’t regard that as a significant problem, but similar sounds heard during replay might indicate significant decoder difficulties…
It must be profoundly disappointing to meet such difficulties when you have just purchased your new “toy”, but if no “magic wand” solution appears to be forthcoming in the near future, I’d simply seek a replacement…
I wish you every success, and hope that you are soon in a position to enjoy your Clip as much as I do mine…