Very weird. I run my copy of MoM (CD-ROM version with a patch I googled for) without any problems and I only use 12000 cpu cycles.

I tried with your configuration and it works fine.... but without the sfx... any ideas?

With VDMSound?
SFX should work if Port/IRQ/DRQ are setup in MOM the same as VDMSound, but tbh, it makes the battles too slow to be really playable. At least it does on my system (P3@1.15Ghz). I tried various combinations of sound and music settings, and I couldn't find one that did sound + music + not stalling in battle.

EDIT: Aah, found a solution! There's a guide at http://home.nycap.rr.com/moonsword/masterofmagic-faq.htm on how to fix it (in short, set DMA polling min&max to 0) - battles are much faster now. 😀