Apple TV eARC still causes loud popping

I was hoping the release of tvOS 16.3 would finally fix the long standing popping sound issue with eARC but sadly it’s still present. I’m using two HomePods minis of course in a stereo pair and if “Play Television Audio (eARC)” is off they work fine but if it’s turned on then after any time between an hour or a few days super loud popping will start to happen every 30 seconds to 5 minutes or so.

I really hope this issue isn’t also present with the HomePod 2nd Gen or I’ll have to return them.