Most of the "compact memory" devices like memory stick have very slow readout when compared to hard drives. It's more likely the problem is with the memory stick's readout speed than with the USB connection. Older external CD burners have used USB 1 connections for some time, although the burn rates are limited to about 3x (maybe it was 7x?) with USB 1. USB 2 connections are good enough for at least 10x or so, if there's no other delay in getting stuff to the burner.

The "best" setup is to have the data, program, and adequate temp file space for a burn all on one hard drive, in the same partition, before you start the burn. There usually is little impact if you need to put the files in a different partition or on a different physical hard drive internal on your machine.

If you have been trying to burn from the memory stick because you don't have sufficient space on your hard drive, you could consider investing in an external hard drive, with a USB 2 or Firewire connection to the computer. Either should be fast enough to allow you to put your music files there for the burn at reasonable burn rates, although some burners claim extreme rates (32x & higher) that can sometimes outrun even one of these. If you choose a USB 2 external drive, you MUST verify that your machine has a USB 2 port. It probably does if it's a fairly recent model, but some older machines may still be USB 1.

The slow readout of the memory stick is sufficient to "explain" the effect you're seeing. Since it does connect to a USB port, if the port on your machine (or on your stick reader) happens to be an old USB 1 port, the problem is doubled. Slow read on top of slow transmit. Moving the files to a good hard drive before burning should fix it.

The only other "problem" I've seen that consistently causes the "same burn defect at the same place on the disk" comes from some AV programs that try to scan any file that's moved. The delay caused by the scan can "deplete" the burn buffer by a fairly fixed amount at each pass, resulting in a "defect" at about the same place in each burn when the buffer gets empty. The usual "defect" in this case though is just a "total failure" and a new coaster for the coffee table. One of the 3 machines I use fairly regularly to burn CDs occasionally has this problem, although all 3 use the same AV program.

John