I've been curious about this for a while and never asked... I haven't seen an answer although one may exist.

Everyone knows that for more reliable burns you should burn at slower speeds. The result is better burns and less problems. Simple, makes perfect sense.

Now, what about the media? 2x media has been around a long time, 4x a while, and 8x is pretty new (in the overall picture). So... does the media speed have a negative affect on the way your burns turn out?

Sure you can burn 8x media at 2x, but why not just burn 2x media at 2x? The slower media has been around longer, are the techniques used in manufacturing more solid that the 4x or 8x?

I would suspect media that can be burned at a higher speed may be less reliable than discs rated for a slower speed. In many cases the slower media can be overclocked, or may even be the exact same media as the faster stuff. So... what's the real story on this?

Does my question make sense to those of you that understand the inner workings of media?

I really want to know because I'm curious how to best burn so that my data will be around for a while. 2x, 4x or 8x that is the question... got me thinking all about media manufacturing and media reliability.