Sorry for the delay. I was trying to figure out what the problem was, and as it turns out, it's not just 24-bit. I'm getting crackling on various tracks at different bit resolutions and sample rates. It looks like overdrive, and I figured out that simply changing the master gain to -0.1 dB is enough to fix everything. I'll just add that all the settings are default: DRC, AGC, etc., are OFF, and all levels are at 0 dB.
I've tested it on various outputs—Direct, Wavey, YASAPI—and it's the same everywhere. No problem bypassing the mixer. No crackling.
That's one thing, but more importantly, what happened today immediately after updating to 23234: no signal on the SL/SR mixer output. It's impossible to set the output to 2/2 - quadro. After closing preferences and re-entering, the setting reverts to AS IS (no change)

x86, build 23234 from today.