I just don't get it... I really don't.

MP3's, especially fairly high bitrate ones (192kbps or 256kbps) are very hard to distinguish from the original sound file. 256kbps especially, done right, is beyond the average listener's capability to distinguish in all but VERY careful A/B comparisons.

I would be astonished if anyone here (considering how elderly most of us are ) is capable of doing a casual double blind listening test between 256kbps MP3's and 16 bit .wav files and consistently picking correctly. There have been all kinds of web double blinds done, and the only thing they show is that some of the MOST convinced 'golden-eared' (at least in their own minds!) detractors of MP3's have been consistently embarrassed by their inability to get it 100% right.

I know it's very fashionable in musician circles to knock the poor MP3, and a LOT of this attitude goes back to the days of poor encoders and very low bitrates needed for modem surfing. But this is the 21st century, things have changed...

Avail yourself of the opportunity to take some of the better double blind tests available from different audio websites. And learn a little humility. The difference between high bitrate MP3 audio and a 16 bit wave is FAR less than you think it is. You can even test for yourself. Got iTunes? Stick a CD in the drive. Let iTunes rip it at 256 MP3 or high rate AAC. It will make a playlist. Now add in the original CD tracks to the playlist. Select 'Shuffle'. Listen to the tracks, and write down which you thought was CD, which MP3. Don't peek!

Compare the list you made with the shuffle list. Few get it right consistently...

In other words, if an arranger sounds great on a web demo, it'll sound great when you play it live. And if it DOESN'T (you know what I'm talking about!), hearing it live won't make it sound sufficiently better to make a difference to a buying decision. Crap is crap, no matter WHAT audio form it comes in, and a great sound isn't rendered much less great (if any) by making a decent quality MP3 of it.

Before you refute me, take the tests. I did. I couldn't pick them 100% at 256kbps. There... I admitted it!

Can you?