Mis-spoke. Actually have MC18v189 which MC says is "Up to date" when I go to "Check for updates" under "Tools"...even tho' site says latest is v193. When I tried to execute the *.mjr file previously downloaded, popup asked if I wanted to update with Registration (I assume since I am beyond the 14 day window). Last couple of times I went this route, I chewed up 2 of 10 restores and am now down to 3.
So, how do I update without exhausting any more restores.
re Bit Depth, thanks. Just was not sure if this might be causing the distortion.
I am under the understanding that Buffer setting is more responsible for dropouts/skips rather than distortion but maybe that is not the case. I have buffer set for lowest (0.02 seconds) which indicates "Most Responsive". Have also deactivated the "Use large hardware buffers" after reading advisory NOTE on Latency. I do not believe that there was audible improvement in distortion with larger buffer setting and/or activation of "large hardware buffer".
PC system (quad-core i5 CPU, 8GB ram) is dedicated to music service so would not expect it to have this much problem single-tasking.