Seth, good deal on getting EAC going.
I rip at ‘slow’ speed (roughly 3x read speed for entire disc) using a 2003 vintage Plextor CD/CD-RW drive. It has C2 error correction, and pretty much guarantees I’ll get the right bits.
On some of my oldest CD’s (early 80’s, I got in on the ground floor
) this drive and EAC will get the rip, even if it takes an hour or two.
Newer discs could be ripped at 8x, but I just set the settings and leave it alone.
The reason for using ‘slow’ is that it actually finishes quicker than if it’s constantly trying faster speeds, then waiting for the drive to slow, then speed back up, etc.
But YMMV with different drives. Just try the various speeds and see what works on your setup.
Oh, and note that many drives have firmware updates available for them, usually it’s to address recordable media compatibility, but occasionally, they missed something in the CD read arena and correct that in a post-shipping firmware. Check the Hydrogen audio forums for good info on drives.