HDMI audio dropouts / distortion under certain scenarios in kernel 4.19

Start by reproducing the HDMI audio dropouts on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with Raspbian and kernel 4.19, using VLC MP3 playback and X-RDP, then compare with kernel 4.14. Isolate which additional package or kernel change triggers the regression; done means both playback scenarios remain clear without clicking, distortion, or dropouts.

After the recent kernel update to 4.19 via apt-get update, my audio becomes distorted.
Playback of MP3 via VLC has brief dropouts and some clicking can intermittently be heard.
Remote desktop to a Windows PC via X-RDP results in the sound being distorted such that it no longer resembles the sound being played (eg sound of emptying recycle bin)

rolling back to 4.14 thus :
sudo rpi-update a08ece3d48c3c40bf1b501772af9933249c11c5b
largely (but not completely) fixes the problem. Some brief dropout in VLC playback, but X-RDP sound is working.

A clean install of Raspbian entirely cures the problem, but when certain additional software is installed via apt-get install, the problem returns.

Pre-conditions :

Raspberry Pi 3B+ booting from SD card, with Raspbian installed on external SSD

Fresh install of Raspbian
apt-get upgrade and reboot so that 4.19 kernel is in use

How to reproduce the problem :

On desktop, play a known good MP3 file using VLC. Note that it sounds good with no stuttering, distortion or dropouts.

Install the additional software that I use on my Pi :

paste this list into a file pkglist.txt
acl adduser adwaita-icon-theme akonadi-backend-mysql akonadi-server alacarte alpine alpine-doc alsa-base alsa-utils ant ant-optional apt apt-listchanges apt-transport-https apt-utils aptitude aptitude-common aspell aspell-en autoconf automake autopoint autotools-dev avahi-daemon base-files base-passwd bash bash-completion bind9-host binutils blends-tasks blt bluealsa bluej bluez bluez-firmware bsdmainutils bsdutils build-essential bzip2 ca-certificates catdoc chromium-browser chromium-browser-l10n chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra cifs-utils claws-mail claws-mail-i18n coinor-libcbc3 coinor-libcgl1 coinor-libclp1 coinor-libcoinmp1v5:armhf coinor-libcoinutils3v5 coinor-libipopt1v5 coinor-libosi1v5 console-setup console-setup-linux coreutils cpio cpp cpp-6 cpufrequtils crda cron curl dash dbus dbus-user-session dbus-x11 dc dconf-gsettings-backend:armhf dconf-service debconf debconf-i18n debconf-utils debhelper debian-reference-common debian-reference-en debianutils desktop-base desktop-file-utils device-tree-compiler dh-autoreconf dh-python dh-strip-nondeterminism dhcpcd5 dictionaries-common diffutils distro-info-data dmidecode dmsetup docbook-xml docbook-xsl docutils-common dolphin4 dosfstools dphys-swapfile dpkg dpkg-dev dvdauthor dvgrab e2fslibs:armhf e2fsprogs ed emacsen-common epiphany-browser epiphany-browser-data erlang-base esound-common fake-hwclock fakeroot fbset fdupes ffmpeg ffmpegthumbnailer file findutils firmware-atheros firmware-brcm80211 firmware-libertas firmware-misc-nonfree firmware-realtek fontconfig fontconfig-config fontconfig-infinality fonts-crosextra-caladea fonts-crosextra-carlito fonts-dejavu fonts-dejavu-core fonts-dejavu-extra fonts-droid-fallback fonts-freefont-ttf fonts-liberation fonts-liberation2 fonts-linuxlibertine fonts-noto-mono fonts-opensymbol fonts-piboto fonts-sil-gentium fonts-sil-gentium-basic freepats frei0r-plugins fslint fuse g++ g++-6 galculator gcc gcc-4.6-base:armhf gcc-4.7-base:armhf gcc-4.8-base:armhf gcc-4.9-base:armhf gcc-5-base:armhf gcc-6 gcc-6-base:armhf gcj-6-jre-lib gconf-service gconf2 gconf2-common gdb gdisk geany geany-common genisoimage geoclue-2.0 geoip-database gettext gettext-base ghostscript giblib1:armhf gimp gimp-data gir1.2-atk-1.0:armhf gir1.2-freedesktop:armhf gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0:armhf gir1.2-glib-2.0:armhf gir1.2-gmenu-3.0 gir1.2-gtk-3.0:armhf gir1.2-pango-1.0:armhf git git-man gksu gldriver-test glib-networking:armhf glib-networking-common glib-networking-services gnome-desktop3-data gnome-icon-theme gnome-menus gnome-themes-standard:armhf gnome-themes-standard-data gnome-user-guide gnupg gnupg-agent gpgv gpicview greenfoot grep groff-base gsettings-desktop-schemas gsfonts gstreamer0.10-alsa:armhf gstreamer0.10-plugins-base:armhf gstreamer1.0-alsa:armhf gstreamer1.0-libav:armhf gstreamer1.0-omx gstreamer1.0-omx-rpi gstreamer1.0-omx-rpi-config gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad:armhf gstreamer1.0-plugins-base:armhf gstreamer1.0-plugins-good:armhf 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libpcre3:armhf libpcsclite1:armhf libpentaho-reporting-flow-engine-java libperl5.24:armhf libpgm-5.2-0:armhf libphonon4:armhf libphonon4qt5-4:armhf libpipeline1:armhf libpisock9 libpixie-java libpixman-1-0:armhf libplasma3 libplist3:armhf libplymouth4:armhf libpng-dev:armhf libpng-tools libpng12-0:armhf libpng16-16:armhf libpolkit-agent-1-0:armhf libpolkit-backend-1-0:armhf libpolkit-gobject-1-0:armhf libpolkit-qt-1-1:armhf libpolkit-qt5-1-1:armhf libpoppler-glib8:armhf libpoppler-qt5-1:armhf libpoppler64:armhf libpopt0:armhf libportaudio2:armhf libportmidi0:armhf libpostproc54:armhf libpq5:armhf libprocps6:armhf libprotobuf-lite10:armhf libproxy-tools libproxy1v5:armhf libpsl5:armhf libpulse-mainloop-glib0:armhf libpulse0:armhf libpulsedsp:armhf libpython-all-dev:armhf libpython-dev:armhf libpython-stdlib:armhf libpython2.7:armhf libpython2.7-dev:armhf libpython2.7-minimal:armhf libpython2.7-stdlib:armhf libpython3-dev:armhf libpython3-stdlib:armhf libpython3.5:armhf libpython3.5-dev:armhf libpython3.5-minimal:armhf libpython3.5-stdlib:armhf libqca2:armhf libqca2-plugins:armhf libqmi-glib5:armhf libqmi-proxy libqt4-dbus:armhf libqt4-declarative:armhf libqt4-designer:armhf libqt4-network:armhf libqt4-opengl:armhf libqt4-qt3support:armhf libqt4-script:armhf libqt4-sql:armhf libqt4-sql-mysql:armhf libqt4-svg:armhf libqt4-xml:armhf libqt4-xmlpatterns:armhf libqt5concurrent5:armhf libqt5core5a:armhf libqt5dbus5:armhf libqt5gui5:armhf libqt5network5:armhf libqt5printsupport5:armhf libqt5qml5:armhf libqt5quick5:armhf libqt5script5:armhf libqt5sql5:armhf libqt5sql5-mysql:armhf libqt5sql5-sqlite:armhf libqt5svg5:armhf libqt5widgets5:armhf libqt5x11extras5:armhf libqt5xml5:armhf libqtcore4:armhf libqtdbus4:armhf libqtgui4:armhf libqtwebkit4:armhf libquicktime2:armhf libraptor2-0:armhf librarian0 libraspberrypi-bin libraspberrypi-dev libraspberrypi-doc libraspberrypi0 librasqal3:armhf libraw1394-11:armhf libraw15:armhf librdf0:armhf libreadline5:armhf libreadline6:armhf libreadline7:armhf librelaxng-datatype-java libreoffice libreoffice-avmedia-backend-gstreamer libreoffice-base libreoffice-base-core libreoffice-base-drivers libreoffice-calc libreoffice-common libreoffice-core libreoffice-draw libreoffice-gtk libreoffice-gtk2 libreoffice-help-en-gb libreoffice-impress libreoffice-java-common libreoffice-l10n-en-gb libreoffice-librelogo libreoffice-math libreoffice-nlpsolver libreoffice-ogltrans libreoffice-pdfimport libreoffice-pi libreoffice-report-builder libreoffice-report-builder-bin libreoffice-script-provider-bsh libreoffice-script-provider-js libreoffice-script-provider-python libreoffice-sdbc-hsqldb libreoffice-sdbc-postgresql libreoffice-style-galaxy libreoffice-style-tango libreoffice-systray libreoffice-wiki-publisher libreoffice-writer librepository-java libresid-builder0c2a librest-0.7-0:armhf librevenge-0.0-0:armhf librsvg2-2:armhf librsvg2-common:armhf librtaudio5a:armhf librtimulib-dev librtimulib-utils librtimulib7 librtmp1:armhf librubberband2:armhf libsac-java libsac-java-gcj libsamplerate0:armhf libsane:armhf libsane-common libsane-extras:armhf libsane-extras-common libsasl2-2:armhf libsasl2-modules:armhf libsasl2-modules-db:armhf libsaxonhe-java libsbc1:armhf libsdl-image1.2:armhf libsdl-mixer1.2:armhf libsdl-ttf2.0-0:armhf libsdl1.2debian:armhf libsdl2-2.0-0:armhf libseccomp2:armhf libsecret-1-0:armhf libsecret-common libselinux1:armhf libsemanage-common libsemanage1:armhf libsensors4:armhf libsepol1:armhf libserd-0-0:armhf libserializer-java libservlet3.1-java libshine3:armhf libshout3:armhf libsidplay2 libsigc++-1.2-5c2 libsigc++-2.0-0v5:armhf libsigsegv2:armhf libslang2:armhf libsm6:armhf libsmartcols1:armhf libsmbclient:armhf libsnappy1v5:armhf libsndfile1:armhf libsndio6.1:armhf libsodium18:armhf libsolid4 libsombok3:armhf libsoprano4 libsord-0-0:armhf libsoundtouch1:armhf libsoup-gnome2.4-1:armhf libsoup2.4-1:armhf libsox-fmt-alsa:armhf libsox-fmt-base:armhf libsox2:armhf libsoxr0:armhf libspandsp2:armhf libspectre1:armhf libspeex1:armhf libspeexdsp1:armhf libsqlite3-0:armhf libsratom-0-0:armhf libsrtp0 libss2:armhf libssh-gcrypt-4:armhf libssh2-1:armhf libssl1.0.2:armhf libssl1.1:armhf libstartup-notification0:armhf libstdc++-6-dev:armhf libstdc++6:armhf libsuitesparseconfig4:armhf libswresample2:armhf libswscale4:armhf libsysfs2:armhf libsystemd0:armhf libtag1v5:armhf libtag1v5-vanilla:armhf libtalloc2:armhf libtasn1-6:armhf libtcl8.6:armhf libtdb1:armhf libtevent0:armhf libtext-charwidth-perl libtext-iconv-perl libtext-wrapi18n-perl libthai-data libthai0:armhf libtheora0:armhf libthreadweaver4 libtiff5:armhf libtimedate-perl libtinfo5:armhf libtinyxml2-4:armhf libtirpc1:armhf libtk8.6:armhf libtool libtwolame0:armhf libtxc-dxtn-s2tc:armhf libubsan0:armhf libudev0:armhf libudev1:armhf libudisks2-0:armhf libumfpack5:armhf libunique-1.0-0 libunistring0:armhf libupnp6 libupower-glib3:armhf liburi-perl libusageenvironment3:armhf libusb-0.1-4:armhf libusb-1.0-0:armhf libusbmuxd4:armhf libustr-1.0-1:armhf libutempter0:armhf libuuid1:armhf libv4l-0:armhf libv4l2rds0:armhf libv4lconvert0:armhf libva-drm1:armhf libva-wayland1:armhf libva-x11-1:armhf libva1:armhf libvdpau-va-gl1:armhf libvdpau1:armhf libvisio-0.1-1:armhf libvisual-0.4-0:armhf libvlc-bin:armhf libvlc5:armhf libvlccore9:armhf libvo-aacenc0:armhf libvo-amrwbenc0:armhf libvorbis0a:armhf libvorbisenc2:armhf libvorbisfile3:armhf libvpx4:armhf libvte-common libvte9 libwacom-common libwacom2:armhf libwavpack1:armhf libwayland-client0:armhf libwayland-cursor0:armhf libwayland-egl1-mesa:armhf libwayland-server0:armhf libwbclient0:armhf libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37:armhf libwebkitgtk-3.0-0:armhf libwebp6:armhf libwebpdemux2:armhf libwebpmux2:armhf libwebrtc-audio-processing1:armhf libwildmidi-config libwildmidi2:armhf libwmf0.2-7:armhf libwnck-3-0:armhf libwnck-3-common libwnck-common libwnck22:armhf libwpd-0.10-10:armhf libwpg-0.3-3:armhf libwps-0.4-4:armhf libwrap0:armhf libwww-perl libwww-robotrules-perl libwxbase3.0-0v5:armhf libwxgtk3.0-0v5:armhf libx11-6:armhf libx11-data libx11-xcb1:armhf libx264-148:armhf libx265-95:armhf libxapian30:armhf libxau6:armhf libxaw7:armhf libxcb-dri2-0:armhf libxcb-dri3-0:armhf libxcb-glx0:armhf libxcb-icccm4:armhf libxcb-image0:armhf libxcb-keysyms1:armhf libxcb-present0:armhf libxcb-randr0:armhf libxcb-render-util0:armhf libxcb-render0:armhf libxcb-shape0:armhf libxcb-shm0:armhf libxcb-sync1:armhf libxcb-util0:armhf libxcb-xfixes0:armhf libxcb-xinerama0:armhf libxcb-xkb1:armhf libxcb-xv0:armhf libxcb1:armhf libxcomposite1:armhf libxcursor1:armhf libxdamage1:armhf libxdmcp6:armhf libxerces2-java libxext6:armhf libxfce4util-bin libxfce4util-common libxfce4util7:armhf libxfconf-0-2 libxfixes3:armhf libxfont1:armhf libxfont2:armhf libxft2:armhf libxi6:armhf libxinerama1:armhf libxkbcommon-x11-0:armhf libxkbcommon0:armhf libxkbfile1:armhf libxklavier16:armhf libxml-commons-external-java libxml-commons-resolver1.1-java libxml-java libxml2:armhf libxml2-utils libxmlbeans-java libxmu6:armhf libxmuu1:armhf libxom-java libxpm4:armhf libxpp2-java libxpp3-java libxrandr2:armhf libxrender1:armhf libxres1:armhf libxshmfence1:armhf libxslt1.1:armhf libxss1:armhf libxt6:armhf libxtables12:armhf libxtst6:armhf libxv1:armhf libxvidcore4:armhf libxxf86dga1:armhf libxxf86vm1:armhf libyajl2:armhf libyelp0:armhf libzbar0:armhf libzen0v5:armhf libzip4:armhf libzmq5:armhf libzvbi-common libzvbi0:armhf lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter linux-base linux-libc-dev:armhf locales login logrotate lp-solve lsb-base lsb-release lua5.1 luajit lxappearance lxappearance-obconf lxde lxde-common lxde-core lxde-icon-theme lxhotkey-core lxhotkey-gtk lxinput lxmenu-data lxpanel lxpanel-data lxplug-bluetooth lxplug-ejecter lxplug-network lxplug-ptbatt lxplug-volume lxpolkit lxrandr lxsession lxsession-data lxsession-edit lxsession-logout lxtask lxterminal m4 make makedev man-db manpages manpages-dev marble-data mariadb-common mawk mediainfo mediainfo-gui melt menu-xdg mesa-utils mesa-va-drivers:armhf mesa-vdpau-drivers:armhf mime-support minidlna mlock modemmanager mount mountall multiarch-support mysql-common nano ncdu ncurses-base ncurses-bin ncurses-term net-tools netbase netcat-openbsd netcat-traditional netpbm netsurf-common netsurf-gtk nfs-common nodered ntrack-module-libnl-0 nuscratch obconf omxplayer openbox openbox-lxde-session openresolv openshot openshot-doc openssh-client openssh-server openssh-sftp-server openssl oracle-java8-jdk oxygen-icon-theme p7zip p7zip-full packagekit parted passwd patch paxctld pcmanfm perl perl-base perl-modules-5.24 perl-openssl-defaults:armhf phonon:armhf phonon-backend-gstreamer:armhf phonon-backend-gstreamer-common:armhf phonon4qt5:armhf phonon4qt5-backend-vlc:armhf pi-bluetooth pi-greeter pi-language-support pi-package pi-package-data pi-package-session piclone pigpio pimixer pinentry-curses pipanel pishutdown piwiz pkg-config plasma-scriptengine-javascript plymouth plymouth-themes po-debconf point-rpi policykit-1 poppler-data pprompt procps psmisc pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils pypy pypy-lib:armhf python python-all python-all-dev python-apt-common python-automationhat python-blinker python-blinkt python-buttonshim python-cairo python-cap1xxx python-cffi-backend python-chardet python-click python-colorama python-colorzero python-crypto python-cryptography python-dbus python-dev python-drumhat python-enum34 python-envirophat python-explorerhat python-flask python-fourletterphat python-gi python-glade2 python-gobject-2 python-gpiozero python-gtk2 python-httplib2 python-idna python-imaging python-ipaddress python-itsdangerous python-jinja2 python-jwt python-keyring python-keyrings.alt python-markupsafe python-microdotphat python-minimal python-mlt python-mote python-motephat python-numpy python-oauthlib python-openssl python-pantilthat python-phatbeat python-pianohat python-picamera python-picraft python-piglow python-pigpio python-pil:armhf python-pip python-pip-whl python-pkg-resources python-pyasn1 python-pygame python-pygoocanvas python-pyinotify python-rainbowhat python-requests python-requests-oauthlib python-rpi.gpio python-rtimulib python-scrollphat python-scrollphathd python-secretstorage python-sense-hat python-serial python-setuptools python-simplejson python-six python-skywriter python-smbus:armhf python-sn3218 python-spidev python-talloc python-tk python-touchphat python-twython python-unicornhathd python-urllib3 python-werkzeug python-wheel python-xdg python2.7 python2.7-dev python2.7-minimal python3 python3-apt python3-automationhat python3-blinker python3-blinkt python3-buttonshim python3-cap1xxx python3-cffi-backend python3-chardet python3-click python3-colorama python3-colorzero python3-crypto python3-cryptography python3-dbus python3-dev python3-drumhat python3-envirophat python3-explorerhat python3-flask python3-fourletterphat python3-gi python3-gpiozero python3-idna python3-itsdangerous python3-jinja2 python3-jwt python3-keyring python3-keyrings.alt python3-markupsafe python3-microdotphat python3-minimal python3-mote python3-motephat python3-numpy python3-oauthlib python3-openssl python3-pantilthat python3-pgzero python3-phatbeat python3-pianohat python3-picamera python3-picraft python3-piglow python3-pigpio python3-pil:armhf python3-pip python3-pkg-resources python3-pyasn1 python3-pygame python3-pyinotify python3-rainbowhat python3-requests python3-requests-oauthlib python3-rpi.gpio python3-rtimulib python3-scrollphat python3-scrollphathd python3-secretstorage python3-sense-hat python3-serial python3-setuptools python3-simplejson python3-six python3-skywriter python3-smbus:armhf python3-sn3218 python3-spidev python3-tk:armhf python3-touchphat python3-twython python3-unicornhathd python3-uno python3-urllib3 python3-venv python3-werkzeug python3-wheel python3-xdg python3.5 python3.5-dev python3.5-minimal python3.5-venv qdbus qjackctl qml-module-qtgraphicaleffects:armhf qml-module-qtquick-controls:armhf qml-module-qtquick-layouts:armhf qml-module-qtquick-window2:armhf qml-module-qtquick2:armhf qpdfview qpdfview-djvu-plugin qpdfview-ps-plugin qpdfview-translations qt-at-spi:armhf qt5-gtk-platformtheme:armhf qt5-style-plugins:armhf qt5ct qtchooser qtcore4-l10n qttranslations5-l10n rarian-compat raspberrypi-artwork raspberrypi-bootloader raspberrypi-kernel raspberrypi-net-mods raspberrypi-sys-mods raspberrypi-ui-mods raspbian-archive-keyring raspi-config raspi-copies-and-fills raspi-gpio rc-gui rdesktop read-edid readline-common realvnc-vnc-server recordmydesktop rename rfkill rp-prefapps rpcbind rpd-icons rpd-plym-splash rpd-wallpaper rpi-chromium-mods rpi-update rsync rsyslog rtkit samba-common samba-libs:armhf sane-utils scrot sed sense-hat sensible-utils sgml-base sgml-data shared-mime-info sonnet-plugins soprano-daemon sound-theme-freedesktop squeak-vm ssh ssh-import-id strace sudo swh-plugins systemd systemd-sysv sysvinit-utils tar tasksel tasksel-data tcpd timidity tk8.6-blt2.5 traceroute tree triggerhappy tzdata ucf udev udisks2 uno-libs3 unrar unzip update-inetd upower ure usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data usbutils util-linux uuid v4l-utils va-driver-all:armhf vdpau-driver-all:armhf vim-common vim-tiny vlc vlc-bin vlc-data vlc-l10n vlc-plugin-base:armhf vlc-plugin-notify:armhf vlc-plugin-qt:armhf vlc-plugin-samba:armhf vlc-plugin-skins2:armhf vlc-plugin-video-output:armhf vlc-plugin-video-splitter:armhf vlc-plugin-visualization:armhf wamerican wbritish wget whiptail wireless-regdb wireless-tools wiringpi wolframscript wpasupplicant x11-common x11-utils x11-xkb-utils x11-xserver-utils xarchiver xauth xcompmgr xdg-user-dirs xdg-utils xfconf xfonts-100dpi xfonts-encodings xfonts-utils xinit xinput xkb-data xml-core xserver-common xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-libinput xserver-xorg-video-fbdev xserver-xorg-video-fbturbo xxd xz-utils yelp yelp-xsl zenity zenity-common zip zlib1g:armhf zlib1g-dev:armhf
Use this command to install the list of software :
sudo apt-get install $(cat /home/pi/pkglist.txt | awk '{print $1}')

Reboot the Pi

Play the same MP3 file as earlier, and note that there is dropout at the start of play, and additional (random?) dropout and clicks throughout.

Revert back to previous 4.14.98 kernel :

sudo rpi-update a08ece3d48c3c40bf1b501772af9933249c11c5b

Reboot

Play the same MP3 file using VLC. Note that there is brief dropout at start of file, but that continued playback is now without problem.