Quote - im trying to get into the nodes in cycles but an issue is causing me to want to kill it

no matter what settings i use i get speckles in the materials

There is this massive thread called Brecht's Easter Egg:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?216113-Brecht-s-easter-egg-surprise-Modernizing-shading-and-rendering/page1

In this thread are 5 pages of references to "black spots" ... the consensus appears to be: don't use any lights but "Sun" - the rest of the lights don't work. The best lighting appears to come from emitters, which includes the HDRs used in "World".

Monterey/Mint21.x/Win10 - Blender3.x - PP11.3(cm) - Musescore3.6.2

Wir sind gewohnt, daß die Menschen verhöhnen was sie nicht verstehen
[it is clear that humans have contempt for that which they do not understand] 

Metaphor of Chooks