diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d92fdd17..da9dc658 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ list(APPEND RELIB_LIBS inih)
 if(ARCH_A64)
   file(GLOB VIXL_SOURCES deps/vixl/src/*.cc deps/vixl/src/aarch64/*.cc)
   add_library(vixl STATIC ${VIXL_SOURCES})
-  target_compile_definitions(vixl PRIVATE -DVIXL_CODE_BUFFER_MALLOC)
+  target_compile_definitions(vixl PRIVATE VIXL_CODE_BUFFER_STATIC)
   list(APPEND RELIB_INCLUDES deps/vixl/src)
   list(APPEND RELIB_LIBS vixl)
 endif()
diff --git a/src/core/core.h b/src/core/core.h
index 8462072f..b1f7b2dc 100644
--- a/src/core/core.h
+++ b/src/core/core.h
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@
 
 #define array_size(arr) (int)(sizeof(arr) / sizeof((arr)[0]))
 
+#if COMPILER_MSVC
+#define ALIGNED(x) __declspec(align(x))
+#else
+#define ALIGNED(x) __attribute__((aligned(x)))
+#endif
+
+/* macro for accessing the parent struct of a given pointer */
 #if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 
 static inline void *container_of_(void *ptr, ptrdiff_t offset) {
diff --git a/src/guest/arm7/arm7.c b/src/guest/arm7/arm7.c
index 810f4cf6..3e202ede 100644
--- a/src/guest/arm7/arm7.c
+++ b/src/guest/arm7/arm7.c
@@ -173,15 +173,11 @@ static int arm7_init(struct device *dev) {
   struct arm7 *arm = (struct arm7 *)dev;
   struct dreamcast *dc = arm->dc;
 
-  /* place code buffer in data segment (as opposed to allocating on the heap) to
-     keep it within 2 GB of the code segment, enabling the x64 backend to use
-     RIP-relative offsets when calling functions */
-  static uint8_t arm7_code[0x800000];
-
   /* initialize jit and its interfaces */
   arm->frontend = armv3_frontend_create();
 
 #if ARCH_X64
+  DEFINE_JIT_CODE_BUFFER(arm7_code);
   arm->backend = x64_backend_create(arm7_code, sizeof(arm7_code));
 #else
   arm->backend = interp_backend_create();
diff --git a/src/guest/sh4/sh4.c b/src/guest/sh4/sh4.c
index 240c794a..216cb3a2 100644
--- a/src/guest/sh4/sh4.c
+++ b/src/guest/sh4/sh4.c
@@ -138,14 +138,11 @@ static int sh4_init(struct device *dev) {
   struct sh4 *sh4 = (struct sh4 *)dev;
   struct dreamcast *dc = sh4->dc;
 
-  /* place code buffer in data segment (as opposed to allocating on the heap) to
-     keep it within 2 GB of the code segment, enabling the x64 backend to use
-     RIP-relative offsets when calling functions */
-  static uint8_t sh4_code[0x800000];
-
+  /* initialize jit and its interfaces */
   sh4->frontend = sh4_frontend_create();
 
 #if ARCH_X64
+  DEFINE_JIT_CODE_BUFFER(sh4_code);
   sh4->backend = x64_backend_create(sh4_code, sizeof(sh4_code));
 #else
   sh4->backend = interp_backend_create();
diff --git a/src/host/sdl_host.c b/src/host/sdl_host.c
index ece7370a..ed809d78 100644
--- a/src/host/sdl_host.c
+++ b/src/host/sdl_host.c
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 #include "core/filesystem.h"
 #include "core/log.h"
 #include "core/option.h"
-#include "core/profiler.h"
 #include "core/ringbuf.h"
+#include "core/time.h"
 #include "emulator.h"
 #include "host/host.h"
 #include "render/render_backend.h"
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ DEFINE_OPTION_INT(latency, 50, "Preferred audio latency in ms");
 #define AUDIO_FRAMES_TO_MS(frames) \
   (int)(((float)frames * 1000.0f) / (float)AUDIO_FREQ)
 #define MS_TO_AUDIO_FRAMES(ms) (int)(((float)(ms) / 1000.0f) * AUDIO_FREQ)
+#define NS_TO_AUDIO_FRAMES(ns) (int)(((float)(ns) / NS_PER_SEC) * AUDIO_FREQ)
 
 /*
  * sdl host implementation
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ struct sdl_host {
   SDL_AudioDeviceID audio_dev;
   SDL_AudioSpec audio_spec;
   struct ringbuf *audio_frames;
+  volatile int64_t audio_last_callback;
 
   int key_map[K_NUM_KEYS];
   SDL_GameController *controllers[INPUT_MAX_CONTROLLERS];
@@ -86,8 +88,30 @@ static int audio_buffer_low(struct sdl_host *host) {
     return 1;
   }
 
+  /* SDL's write callback is called very coarsely, seemingly, only each time
+     its buffered data has completely drained
+
+     since the main loop is designed to synchronize speed based on the amount
+     of buffered audio data, with larger buffer sizes (due to a larger latency
+     setting) this can result in the callback being called only one time for
+     multiple video frames
+
+     this creates a situation where multiple video frames are immediately ran
+     when the callback fires in order to push enough audio data to avoid an
+     underflow, and then multiple vblanks occur on the host where no new frame
+     is presented as the main loop again blocks waiting for another write
+     callback to decrease the amount of buffered audio data
+
+     in order to smooth out the video frame timings when the audio latency is
+     high, the host clock is used to interpolate the amount of available audio
+     data between callbacks */
+  int64_t now = time_nanoseconds();
+  int64_t since_last_callback = now - host->audio_last_callback;
+  int frames_available = audio_available_frames(host);
+  frames_available -= NS_TO_AUDIO_FRAMES(since_last_callback);
+
   int low_water_mark = host->audio_spec.samples;
-  return audio_available_frames(host) <= low_water_mark;
+  return frames_available <= low_water_mark;
 }
 
 static void audio_write_callback(void *userdata, Uint8 *stream, int len) {
@@ -109,6 +133,8 @@ static void audio_write_callback(void *userdata, Uint8 *stream, int len) {
     /* copy frames to output stream */
     memcpy(buf, tmp, n * frame_size);
   }
+
+  host->audio_last_callback = time_nanoseconds();
 }
 
 void audio_push(struct host *base, const int16_t *data, int num_frames) {
@@ -152,8 +178,12 @@ static int audio_init(struct sdl_host *host) {
     return 0;
   }
 
-  /* create ringbuffer to store data coming in from AICA */
-  host->audio_frames = ringbuf_create(host->audio_spec.samples * 4);
+  /* create ringbuffer to store data coming in from AICA. note, the buffer needs
+     to be at least two video frames in size, in order to handle the coarse
+     synchronization used by the main loop, where an entire guest video frame is
+     ran when the available audio data is deemed low */
+  static const int frame_size = 2 * 2;
+  host->audio_frames = ringbuf_create(AUDIO_FREQ * frame_size);
 
   /* resume device */
   SDL_PauseAudioDevice(host->audio_dev, 0);
diff --git a/src/jit/backend/jit_backend.h b/src/jit/backend/jit_backend.h
index c4bad29e..70950211 100644
--- a/src/jit/backend/jit_backend.h
+++ b/src/jit/backend/jit_backend.h
@@ -14,6 +14,23 @@ struct jit_register {
   const void *data;
 };
 
+/* macro to help declare a code buffer for the backends to use
+
+   note, the code buffer needs to be placed in the data segment (as opposed to
+   allocating on the heap) to keep it within 2 GB of the code segment, enabling
+   the x64 backend to use RIP-relative offsets when calling functions
+
+   further, the code buffer needs to be no greater than 1 MB in size so the a64
+   backend can use conditional branches to thunks without trampolining
+
+   finally, the code buffer needs to be aligned to a 4kb page so it's easy to
+   mprotect */
+#if ARCH_A64
+#define DEFINE_JIT_CODE_BUFFER(name) static uint8_t name[0x100000] ALIGNED(4096)
+#else
+#define DEFINE_JIT_CODE_BUFFER(name) static uint8_t name[0x800000] ALIGNED(4096)
+#endif
+
 struct jit_backend {
   struct jit *jit;
 
diff --git a/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_backend.cc b/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_backend.cc
index 13794162..976be795 100644
--- a/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_backend.cc
+++ b/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_backend.cc
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ extern "C" {
 #include "jit/jit.h"
 }
 
-/* size of codegen buffer reserved for thunks */
-#define X64_THUNK_SIZE 1024
-
 /*
  * x64 register layout
  */
@@ -353,8 +350,8 @@ static void x64_backend_emit_prologue(struct x64_backend *backend,
   e.add(e.dword[guestctx + guest->offset_instrs], block->num_instrs);
 }
 
-static void *x64_backend_emit(struct x64_backend *backend,
-                              struct jit_block *block, struct ir *ir) {
+static void x64_backend_emit(struct x64_backend *backend,
+                             struct jit_block *block, struct ir *ir) {
   auto &e = *backend->codegen;
   const uint8_t *code = backend->codegen->getCurr();
 
@@ -396,9 +393,8 @@ static void *x64_backend_emit(struct x64_backend *backend,
 
   e.outLocalLabel();
 
+  block->host_addr = (void *)code;
   block->host_size = (int)(backend->codegen->getCurr() - code);
-
-  return (void *)code;
 }
 
 static void x64_backend_emit_thunks(struct x64_backend *backend) {
@@ -580,7 +576,7 @@ static int x64_backend_assemble_code(struct jit_backend *base,
   /* try to generate the x64 code. if the code buffer overflows let the backend
      know so it can reset the cache and try again */
   try {
-    block->host_addr = x64_backend_emit(backend, block, ir);
+    x64_backend_emit(backend, block, ir);
   } catch (const Xbyak::Error &e) {
     if (e != Xbyak::ERR_CODE_IS_TOO_BIG) {
       LOG_FATAL("x64 codegen failure, %s", e.what());
@@ -630,7 +626,8 @@ struct jit_backend *x64_backend_create(void *code, int code_size) {
       calloc(1, sizeof(struct x64_backend)));
   Xbyak::util::Cpu cpu;
 
-  CHECK(Xbyak::CodeArray::protect(code, code_size, true));
+  int r = protect_pages(code, code_size, ACC_READWRITEEXEC);
+  CHECK(r);
 
   backend->base.init = &x64_backend_init;
   backend->base.destroy = &x64_backend_destroy;
diff --git a/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_local.h b/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_local.h
index 80e48437..f744d017 100644
--- a/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_local.h
+++ b/src/jit/backend/x64/x64_local.h
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ struct x64_backend {
 /*
  * backend functionality used by emitters
  */
+#define X64_THUNK_SIZE 1024
+
 #if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 #define X64_STACK_SHADOW_SPACE 32
 #else
diff --git a/src/jit/jit.c b/src/jit/jit.c
index 96619039..2a85ebf7 100644
--- a/src/jit/jit.c
+++ b/src/jit/jit.c
@@ -327,6 +327,10 @@ void jit_compile_block(struct jit *jit, uint32_t guest_addr) {
   int res = jit->backend->assemble_code(jit->backend, block, &ir);
 
   if (res) {
+#if 0
+    jit->backend->dump_code(jit->backend, block);
+#endif
+
     jit_finalize_block(jit, block);
   } else {
     /* if the backend overflowed, completely free the cache and let dispatch