mp3's provide good, but not perfect, quality (Score 1)

While I am all for the expansion of digitally distributed music and the increased selection that it brings consumers, I'm not satisfied with the quality that 128kb encoded mp3's provide. There is a noticable difference in quality between the CD and the mp3. Unfortunately, it seems that 128kb compression has established itself as the defacto compression scheme. While it is an excellent compression method, it is not adequate for distributing music. I have found that 256kb compression is close enough in quality to the original, but the increased file size hampers distribution. If the music industry jumps onto the mp3 bandwagon (unlikely, but possible) it seems that the consumer will face the prospect of lower quality music. If I had to choose between purchasing a physical CD or purchasing a digital distribution (i.e. They Might Be Giants), I would choose the CD because the CD offers higher quality audio. The loss of quality is not worth the few dollars saved.