Sound drops out for split second every few minutes.....

Are you using any other application while it's playing Deezer/Tidal?  If you don't have enough CPU, it can cause split-second dropouts during playback.  I experience the same thing with Jriver when using Firefox to browse an especially complex web page. 

This can also happen with just other general background processes.  If you are trying to play DSD or higher bitrate DSD (such as 2X or 4X DSD), then the laptop may not be able to synch/clock the bitrate accurately as it sends it to the Ayre DAC.  This can cause split-second dropouts or other similar behavior.

You can alter the CPU priority of your player software by going into Task Manager. Then right click on the executable for your player and select "Set Priority => High".

Thanks for the suggestions.  Last night I suffered a bout of frustration and took a more scorched earth approach:  I wiped the hard drive and did a clean install of Win10.  :-)  Now, I'm going to start listening and then adding stuff back in and see if there's something that causes it.  

I'll check out what was mentioned above too.  Thanks!

Could be background processes running in windows that's one of reasons I don't like using windows to stream music. You can Google how to optimize windows for audio playback might help and do what you said add one program at a time and monitor. 

@djones51 - I didn't know about that (optimize for audio).  Will Google!

I’ve got the bare minimum installed presently and I’ve done a number of the optimizations (after djones51 suggestions) and it’s still occurring. I’m beginning to suspect the unpowered USB hub that I have attached. Disconnecting and we’ll see.

EDIT:  Well, that wasn't it.   UGH.