Cubase Pro 11.0.41/Mac M1 Pro 12.6/UAD 10.1.1 playback issues

Hello all. I’ve been having some significant playback issues while recording/mixing/etc. During playback, it will drop out for a few seconds and if recording it will stop the recording and if mixing it will just act as though it continued playing during the dropout and continue on. I already had an issue where the audio performance started maxing out and causing CPU overloads so I increased the guard level to high and boosted audio priority and it seemed to resolve. I’ve also increased the audio buffer rate. Any other suggestions? I’m starting to think it’s a bug just not sure where to place said bug, whether that be on Cubase, the Mac, or UAD. All programs/apps are up to date and I’m mid project on mixing an EP so I’m trying to see if there’s a fix without blowing everything out or upgrading Cubase to 12.