Thanks for the info, bud.  I think I'll just keep it for now...I don't think I could go without LSDJ on my DMG/GBC for any longer than a day now haha.  When I heard that it sucks going back to an emulator from the genuine article I had my doubts...but I've tried exactly that and those fellas were definitely not kidding.

This happened to me one day and just stayed like that. Something broke. EMS carts are kinda cheap imo. Means a capacitor is out or something. I sent it back for a replacement. But the one I got back is in a case that's kinda warped. I would send it back for a new one but....eh not worth it.

In conclusion my next cart will be a bleepbloop from kitsch-bent.

Good call.  I'm baffled why I didn't think of that.

yeah the EMS thing happens to me too, just put LSDJ on both banks and you shouldn't have to worry about it

- Cool I'll keep experimenting.  I didn't know about the Groove trick and I'll have to try that out later.  The sound I'm shooting for doesn't sound the way I want it using arps so if the previous advice doesn't work I'll continue using my GBC that apparently requires more patience and not a tune-up.

Thanks!

- It's most likely not a hardware problem, you just have to bear in mind that if you experiment enough, you'll find a good balance which allows you to create very complex tracks that don't push the hardware too much. Instead of using 3 channels to make a chord, you could use the Groove command to double the speed of a single channel, and use an arpeggio to create a chord in that 1 channel rather than across 3 channels, for instance.

- With EMS 64 Smartcards, yes this is a common problem.

For the DMG I only really get bad slowdown if I use samples or stupidly high BPMs.

I've been messing around with LSDJ for a little over 5 months now on an emulator and last month I found my old GBC and bought a DMG-01.  Questions engage:

-I've read many of the internets about DMG limitations and high bpm's and complex tables giving them some trouble.  Could anyone throw me some idea of a benchmark?  By that I mean...I've got a 160bpm song going on here...pu1, pu2, wav combined to make chords with V command instruments and a P command thrown in here and there which is enough to make my DMG get a little sick.  I've just heard so many more complicated and insane songs done with them and was curious whether it might be a hardware problem.

-Sometimes when starting up my GBC with my 64 USB Smartcard I am constantly booted to page 2.  With LSDJ on page 1 it's pretty annoying and no matter how many times I try "turning it off and on again" (shameless IT Crowd quote) it won't switch to page one.  I'll just have to let it sit while powered off until I try again later and it'll decide it's ready for page 1.  Common problem?  Cart problem?  GBC problem?  Poltergeist?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Google let me down with the GBC question and I'm curious about the DMG limitations.