Is Maxell that is made in Japan or Taiwan any good? It's rated speed is 8x. It's a 50 pack for $15. I know you said you don't like alot of Maxell but not sure if where these are made at are any good.
Only Maxell Broadcast Quality and Maxell Plus are decent (those are made in Japan). Regular Maxell you can find everywhere should be avoided. I don't think Maxell Broadcast Quality is being made anymore, but it may be possible to find some for sale.
I do play on using Sony 8x and 16x. I will also get some Verbatims. I use to use Verbatims but was told years ago they were not good. Maybe they have changed since then or I was getting just bads one because of where they were being made.
Or it's also possible your burner's firmware needed to be updated. Verbatim, on average, tends to be better than Sony. I refuse to use Sony (the only Sonys that were consistently excellent were made at one point by Taiyo Yuden in Japan), and I'm considering switching entirely to Taiyo Yuden since Verbatim is now outsourcing to Ritek in certain areas (but not in the U.S., so far, so that shouldn't be a concern for you). I'm getting a little tired of playing guessing games with Verbatim.
Verbatims made in Taiwan (MIT) can be made by Prodisc, CMC, or Ritek (only in some areas) now.
Verbatim made in India (MII) is made by Moser Baer. I can't say I'm a big fan of MII Verbatims.
All of this media is supposed to be made to Verbatim's high standards, but as far as I'm concerned the Moser Baer and Ritek made Verbatims fall short.
Verbatim made in Japan (MIJ) is made by Taiyo Yuden.
Verbatim made in Singapore (MIS) is made by Mitsubishi Chemical; Verbatim is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. So if something sold under Verbatim's label is made in Singapore then that's "real" Verbatim blank media.
MIS and MIJ Verbatims are excellent. MIT Verbatims are usually pretty good (with an occasional exception here and there), but I draw the line at those made by Ritek. And I usually avoid MII.
The best +R DL blank media is Verbatim (made in Singapore, not India).