I see your screenshot and the PDF link, not sure why you don't.

In your preferences screen I see you have both of the IM checkboxes enabled in the upper right of your Audio-Prefs window (the second window back).

If you don't have a specific reason to have these enabled, I'd suggest disabling those two checkboxes.

It adds a bit of 'real-time' processing load to your system.
I can use the feature here (so may not be the problem), but I only enable it when needed.
It's one of the first things I would try as a troubleshooting effort.

These Input Monitoring & Enable IM effects features cause the computer to try to implement FX plugins in real-time on whatever audio you are recording, and provide that signal back to you in the monitors in 'real-time'. So this can be a big load on some systems, and may affect performance/results.

I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!