This should be fixed as: https://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=18064 in the next release.

Ticket #2355

For issue 2 I changed to set target to <Artist>[b]\[/b]<Album>, and that did not make any difference

Please capture this problem in a debug log (step 4b) and attach the log to a Support Ticket: https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=86643

This will help a developer analyze why this is happening in your setup.

Latest MMW5, 5.0.1.2431
I am reducing quality down to 192 kbps when above 192, mp3 to mp3

Which Build (Help > About) of MediaMonkey are you using? Do you know which format to which format is converting?

1. Syncing substantial set of files, 5000+ mp3
At some point they can only be done about 60 files at a time [b][i]Correction it is a predictable 54 files, everytime[/i][/b]
MMW stops, status says converting a file, nothing is happening otherwise
Cancel the sync and restart it does the next 60 files

2. In sync profile, file locations
Set target to <Artist>/<Album>
it doesn't stick and reverts to the default <Album Artist> - <Album>