sean...When someone asks a question that we can't answer off the top of our head we generally say "send us your data". So: what evidence exists (other than anicdotal) that CD copied at low speed "sound better" and play more reliably?
In this case I will make an exception and take a stab at it. The Reed-Soloman coding used for CDs (and for any other application) is configured to deal with a certain bit error rate. In addition to the R-S error correction process I believe that CD players implement a data interpolation process to minimize the impact of errors that are not fully correctable, perhaps because of physical damage to the disc. Discs copied at high speed may have bit error rate in excess of the design value even when there are no scatches, interpolation may be invoked, and you can hear it. Warning...this is just my educated guess.
I will not attempt to explain how error correction codes work because I would not do it very well. I know there is an excellent explanation on the web (and a lot of confusing ones too) and I will try to find it again and point you to it.
In this case I will make an exception and take a stab at it. The Reed-Soloman coding used for CDs (and for any other application) is configured to deal with a certain bit error rate. In addition to the R-S error correction process I believe that CD players implement a data interpolation process to minimize the impact of errors that are not fully correctable, perhaps because of physical damage to the disc. Discs copied at high speed may have bit error rate in excess of the design value even when there are no scatches, interpolation may be invoked, and you can hear it. Warning...this is just my educated guess.
I will not attempt to explain how error correction codes work because I would not do it very well. I know there is an excellent explanation on the web (and a lot of confusing ones too) and I will try to find it again and point you to it.