I did a factory reset (Hold down the PROGRAM Button and power it on) to no avail. I then tried what Jesper suggested again to no avail.
The thing that did resolve it finally was opening it up and re-seating the PROMs, Chips, and connectors as suggested by Nick. I then did the Factory restore again and voila! SDE sounding better than ever!!
Of note.. the Headphone Out is still really hot and noisy... but I believe this to be normal and inherent to the SDE... (and SDS9)
Thanks guys!!

Cheers
"...if it's round, it ain't Simmons."