High-quality MP3s not comparable to CD WAVs ??

What a perfect name for a MP3 encoder! If you have even a modestly revealing system you will always be ably to tell MP3s from uncompressed WAV files.

This is slightly off-topic, but I just installed Windows Media Player 9, and it offers a version of the WMA format that is mathematically lossless.

Anybody who claims that mp3s sound the same as wav files has never used anything better than $20 speakers that came with their computer that butcher the sound no matter the source. Proper wav files sound better than mp3s s they contain all the musical information not just what the computer thinks is important. High quality mp3s (256 or better bitrate) will approach the quality of a decent tuner but thats all you can expect. Recognizing this limitation, mp3 is very useful for backround music when sound quality doesnt matter, and portable players are far and away the best solution for music when working out.

hear, hear, sailor720! i couldn't have said it better . . . .

Captain: Try this little test: Get a friend to play one or the other for you, and see if you can guess which one is playing. It's always easy to tell things apart when you know which one is playing.