Just mentioning I'm here looking for the solution to the same problem, which also started recently. I would have thought maybe 1-2 months ago but could be 3. At first, for quite a while, I assumed it was due to a specific plugin in a project as for quite a while I was working on just that, then as I moved on to other things I realized it just happens all the time.
At least for me, it's still playing audio for about those 7 seconds when I press stop, then the audio stops after 7 seconds and control returns to UI.
No issues with recording or such; I don't recall changing any parameters.