To expand on what Andy said... Whether you use a single adapter of:

SD->IDE

Or you use two adapters of:

SD->CF->IDE

Either way it doesn't fix the problem of SD adapters not having a good track record so far. Adding that extra layer isn't going to magically solve any issues with SD adapters. And right now, no one is reporting any good success with any SD adapter.

Your best bets for disk drive replacements on an empeg are still:

- Actual spinning-platters IDE PATA drives, which is what the player was designed to use in the first place.
- If you're dead set on solid state, then a CF card (via a simple CF-to-IDE adapter) has a good chance of working.