I set the last two registry tweaks back to 35 instead of leaving them at 50. It was rather interesting since at 50 there was a lot of hiss and numerous drop-offs. Setting the registry tweaks to 40 cleared up the hiss and most of the drop offs (still a few but spaced wider apart meaning I could listen to 5-6 songs before a drop off would occur). When I set them at 35 I only got 1 drop off after playing 10-11 songs.

I'm wondering if it's some sort of clipping or attenuation at the higher rates.