Actually I would say that EAC and LAME does not retain enough music information to make the music sound the way I want it to at the settings I used. At --alt-preset-standard, the files I produced were typically 4-5Mb in size whereas the MM files I produce are 5-8Mb in size...therefore to me, bigger file size = more music information = better sound. Audio compression means that some information is going to be lost during the process and as compression increases, even more information is dropped. As I stated above I have found that bass and treble are usually the first things to disappear as you lower the bitrate and listening becomes intolerable below 128kbps. I am the only one I've seen on this board who uses 100% VBR according to the various discussions I've read on this topic. Maybe if someone did a direct comparison of the two programs, would they notice a differance as well? I realize that everyone raves about EAC/LAME however, have they tried other rippers? Are they just being satisfied with what they hear figuring that it is quality because someone else told them it was? I think that it is really a subjective opinion based on an individual's own perception of quality.

When I first started ripping music (I have 40Gb now) I did exhaustive research to try and find the sound I was looking for so I would not have to re-rip my collection a second time. I have read so many posts here about people doing their collection again because they were not happy with their own results the first time around... You mention that I may have adjusted my EQ to compensate for an inferior compressor...well, I have no equalization in my home theatre set-up and my music sounds just fine to me. When I have friends over, most times they aren't even aware that it is compressed digital audio they are listening to, they always assume that it's my CD changer...so I imagine that I'm doing something right....

So I drop the gauntlet to you to listen to my system at the Cincinnati meet....and I'll even include the same songs encoded with both programs so you can compare for yourself.