...locking up at the very end of a sync (on stage 10..)

No, not the same thing. It makes it part way through the list of tracks and locks up, usually in the middle of a track. Have to ctrl-alt-del to clear emplode, then reboot the computer before emplode will reload.

The problem is almost certainly in the PC, not the empeg, and may be an incompatibility between emplode and my particular hardware configuration.

If my PC is cold (just turned on after being powered down for a few hours) emplode will run just fine. When it is warm, about half a CD's worth of music is the most that emplode will download.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"