Wow, Rob_E! 2x? 1x?? Maybe it's just that I'm old-school, but I've never used anything less than 3x, and I've never had problems with spoke-hole stress or excessive spoke breakage. I think all my breaks in the past six years have come from a derailleur that jammed up and got forced into the spokes.

Maybe it's the tension that's causing the problems. The fewer the spokes, the more tension there is on any one spoke, and the greater the stress on any part. With 40 spokes, I was advised by Co-Motion to keep the tension lower to avoid greater overall stress on the rim. (Makes me wonder about those 48° wheels - not to mention penny-farthings!)