I use Nero for on-the-fly, as it seems to be the easiest.

You have to make sure that the DAE specs of your reader (Pioneer DVD) can keep up with your writer. Not sure, but I think that Pioneer DVDs are not very good at DAE. See if you can find your model here:

http://www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=daeresults.php3

You will have probs if you writer writes faster than your reader can rip. So set your writer for a lower speed.

I heard Taiyo Yuden made the best CD-Rs, but just find a brand that works with your burner. I heard that Plextors like TDK. I only have problems with Kodak gold .. for some reason.

Never heard of 'Oak' .. I use Blindread/Blindwrite for CDs with heavy-duty copy-protection. CloneCD also rocks. See their forums for help.