<< can you honestly tell the difference between bit sampling rates? >> << Honestly, yes. I can tell the difference. >> WOW! i had no idea we had 2 aliens on the list. i mean, it was kinda obvious that Thrash is "from another planet", but Mr. Blazo as well? what is this, some kind of invasion? anyhoo, for the benefit of you two: an MP3 can be encoded at 192 kbps, that's "kilobits per second" or, "192 x 8 (there are 8 pieces of info in a bit) x 1,000" pieces of information, which works out to be: 1,536,000 pieces of information PER SECOND. a CD is encoded at a mere 128 kbps, which works out to be 1,024,000 pieces of information per second. so, there is quite a bit more information encoded in a high-quality MP3 than there is in CD quality audio. almost half a million pieces of information per second difference. this extra information was added to take care of the tendency of re-sampling algorithms to "squash" the frequency ranges. so: if you have a high-quality MP3 and compare it to a CD, and you can "tell the difference", you were obviously born on another planet. just like those fools who say "i can hear a difference between vinyl and CD". no you can't -- your ear cannot detect such fine frequency and data rate variations. what you are hearing is differences in PLAYBACK technology. there are excellent turntables with 55+ years of work in them, whereas CD players have not been around quite so long, and MP3 players even less time. wait until MP3 playback has been going on for 55+ years, then see if you can tell the difference.... anyway, "Bla" and "Thrash" (or whatever they call you on your homeworld(s)),i am quite impressed that in your species you can not only detect and note that much information that quickly, but also detect very subtle differences. i just wish our planet had more to offer you than the current musical swill being produced..... PJK please don't hate me because i can't type..... --- All the cool kids are doing it: HTTP://www.EvilSponge.org