Logged in, noticed the issue was persisting.
Made the recommended adjustment from the patch notes annnnd... it's still happening.
PLEASE PROPERLY ADDRESS THIS.
The sound and music in this game is phenomenal but having to play without my headphones on because the stuttering/popping literally is hurting my ears now is really, really disappointing.
ETA: I posted in this thread earlier, but I just want to repeat and confirm I NEVER had this issue prior to Endwalker Early Access.