On my 24" iMac 6.1 running 10.6.4 with a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-85J optical iTunes stopped recognizing Sony CD-R Supremas. Any pre-recorder standard CD appears, but not blank disks or recorded Sonys.
The Sony's also do not appear on the desktop. HOWEVER, they do appear in Disk Utility. And if you double-click on them in Disk Utility, a finder window with the burnable CD appears (but still no desktop icon). You can then drag music from iTunes into this window and successfully burn the CD. But iTunes will not recognize it after it's ejected and reinserted.
As a further test, I inserted in my MacBook Pro also running 10.6.4 and the Sony Disk appears on the desktop, but not in iTunes. Clicking on a selection brings up itunes and copies the selection to itunes and plays it. But still no disk image.
I have fixed permissions, zapped P Ram, tossed various preferences, used compressed air in the drive, sacrificed a chicken, and still no luck.
I suspect, OS! Any input / solutions and you can come over for chicken.