For some time I have had an issue with crackling noises, mainly involving the Wavestate Native and NI Icon Bass vsts. The workaround was to turn all vsts off for every song until they were needed. It was “clunky” but it worked.
But Korg have issued an update for Wavestate Native, which doesn’t mention the vst being a processor hog, but I am in my third setlist since and there hasn’t been a single crackle! This might be of interest to @Derek as you use the Korg Wavestate Native products.