Looking for that needle in the haystack....
I will tell you, I have been the most frustrated researching two subject that concern recording:
1- Dithering
2- CDR technology
It would seem both are stuff that is only discussed in back rooms of the worlds elite and not shared in any "laymens" terms on the internet.
Here are a few links that may or may not help.
http://www.emediapro.net/EM1998/starrett10.html
http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/ (this one covers a lot, but nothing conclusive on this particular subject. But the media type being used is mentioned and explained a bit).
Bottom line seems to be that media label "For Audio" has hash marks that are read by the burner that tell the burner that this is a Audio CDR, thus, SCMS is applied automatically. Also, it is suggested that disks can be optimized for 1X speed burns by applying different dye formulations and materials in combination.
It would seem that there is no real standard among different CD HARDWARE per se except their ability to read professionally manufactured CD's. As far as how they write, and what type of media they work best with, well, each burner has it's own thing going on. The cdrfaq link I provided above suggests that one needs to experiment with different media, and possibly different burners to find the combo that works best for burning CDR's that will play in most playback systems. But, it also suggests that if there is any older technology involved (an old CD player, etc....) that the chances of problems are increased.
So, you both have a point about why For Audio CDR blanks are different, and more costly!
Good luck in the search on this subject! I am tired of the reading....
Ed