get the same drop outs even when the speaker setup is set to "stereo." In Plex Media Player, I can get sound, but without exclusive mode, it's only stereo.
With that being said, one thing did remove the audio drop outs on Windows: disabling Dolby Atmos. If I select Stereo instead of Dolby Atmos under "speaker setup" in the sound control panel, I can run the tone generator without drop outs. Unfortunately, I can only get sound in MPV if I allow it...