Occasional pops/ticks during playback

No, not the clock speed of your computer.

When you’re playing some music, select the glowing dot at the bottom next to the name of what you’re listening to. It will expand to show you the signal path. The processing speed is at the top. The higher the number the better, but it should be at least 1.x

Probably alright, but while you’re waiting for support to get back to you, you can take a look at it.