I have been running a test using Linux (Ubuntu 18.04) with audio output via Audacious in continuous-looping mode - no dropouts in over an hour so far. Before this I had tried using Ubuntu in VirtualBox on the same hardware as a Win10 machine, and the driver gave distorted output.
I suspect that there is a problem with the way Win10 manages the USB 2.0 ports, and that this is the root cause of all the reports of dropouts and distortion. With the VirtualBox install of Ubuntu, I noticed that it is still Win10 that manages the USB ports and their virtualization. In contrat, I am now running Ubuntu natively on the same machine. (The only problem I have noticed is that there seems to be something in the Linux ALSA setup that is uninitialized, so that sometimes one application is unable to get control of the ALSA channel if another application has been using it previously - the only solution seems to be a reboot.)
For all those experiencing problems under Win10, I suggest ditching it and installing Linux (I recommend Ubuntu or Mint). If you need a DAW, there is Ardour and likely others; otherwise Audacity offers plenty of options.