[MysticLlama]

I agree, and when I listen to something important, to actually listen to an album through and do nothing else, I pull out the CD.

For just background music or casual listening, I have all of my CDs in 320k MP3, ripped straight from the discs.

The difference is there, but once you're up to 320k, it's small, and only comes out in a good stereo at a decent volume, or if you know the source material well.

In a few tests I did, most people couldn't tell the difference between the original CD and a CD burned from 320k MP3 source material. (This eliminates the hardware difference, since even an original CD played through the computer drive sounds worse than through the CD player)

There are a few CDs I have though that make it pretty easy to tell.

One of the things that bugs me is the lack of any dynamic range in current albums, there is very little quiet space between the sounds and it washes everything together and makes things the same volume when they shouldn't be. When a CD isn't mastered well, it doesn't sound great no matter what you play it from.

I have a couple of demo CDs where you can hardly tell there isn't a drumkit and bass guitar in the room with you. An they aren't SACDs or DVD-Audios. When stuff is recorded right, CDs have more headroom then they are given credit for.