DJLegba:
MC is not converting to any unintended format. The PC is connected to my integrated amplifier (Yamaha A-S801 with integral DAC) via USB. The amplifier's front panel indicates the format of the input data stream, and it is correctly identified as expected. In the most recent case, a 96kHz file is identified, and the unit does not support mp3 anyway.
Yesterday, I installed the 25.0.48 update, and this did not fix the problem. (I don't know whether it was intended to.) When playing a recording that should play back gaplessly (in this case, Respighi's "Pines of Rome"), there was an audible gap between the first and second track of nearly a second in duration, while the second-to-third track transition played back gaplessly. Again, if this anomaly had been occurring during the years that I used MC22, I would have noticed, and I did not.