Thanks for the feedback all. I guess I'll have to re-re-rip to 256 CBR or so because my 3 year old AudioCatalyst 160 and l3enc 128 rips are just not cutting it.

But more than that, the source sound can sometimes seem lacking. I honestly don't think I've EVER experienced audio which is engrossing, surrounding, and "present"; with the only exception of a single high quality radio station. When, on my home amplifier, I switched the radio from Mono to Stereo, I felt immediately engulfed by the sound. Everything else in my world seems like a left mono and a right mono; just two speakers pushing sound at me from one direction. Hardly anything I have really wraps around my ears and surrounds me.

Maybe that's because I listen with headphones at home nearly 100% of the time (Lafayette F990's from back in the day). But in the car, it's the same. I hear noise coming from my feet, and that's it. But both in home and in car, I want more. I feel like I'm really doing something wrong, and I really want to get more out of the music.

So, bitrates aside, can car audio (and via headphones at home) really deliver engrossing, surrounding sound? What's all the talk about "sound stages" and "phasing" and "component speakers"? Will any of that enliven the 90% of my collection which sounds dull and lifeless?

And on a side note, for some reason the only MP3s (and, thus, their respective CDs) I have which sound good are the ones that sound LOUD. My REM collection sounds flat and weak because they are quiet; even if I turn up the volume. But my, say, Rush "Test for Echo" or Incubus "Morning View" sound really engrossing because they are loud. I did read the FAQ entries on audio compression, but am I missing something? Should I just turn the volume knob up when REM comes on and turn it down for Incubus in order to maintain the same level of audio presence? Or is the very core source of the REM CD's just plain bad recording?

Thanks again; this issue has been troubling me for about as long as I've had ears.