@Solid-One not sure it was the card - I’ve re-ripped to bin+cue using ImgBurn on Windows, and it seems much better.

On a slightly different note: I’ve placed the PS BIOS files (not the game files) into the folder where they’re meant to belong, but is there an easy way to tell if they’re being used in place of the inbuilt ones? I’ll have a hunt for the answer elsewhere as well, you’ve been more than helpful as it is! My thanks.