For most cases, sample rate of audio files is not a problem (default at 44.1KHz is good enough for most speaker system), but it is the mp3's bitrate that causes the most quality loss.
Here are examples of different format of bitrate for mp3 if you are unsure, let us use a short song for example:
Chanson du Toreador - 64 bitrate (lowest quality)
Chanson du Toreador - 96 bitrate (low quality)
Chanson du Toreador - 128 bitrate (medium quality)
Chanson du Toreador - 192 bitrate (high quality)
Chanson du Toreador - 256 bitrate (highest quality)
But still, mp3 can't beat this:
Chanson du Toreador - 24-bit wave (perfect quality)
As you can hear, there is a distinct difference between the first three bitrate especially in the Strings section. The first bitrate (64) sounded really, well, Low Quality, as if broadcasted over a telephone
. The second bitrate (96) is rather mediocre but at the very least the 'sound field' expanded a little. The third bitrate (128) is the most ideal quality for the smallest mp3 size in my opinion. Unless listening to a high-end HiFi (or speaker) system, mp3 is suitable for ALL computer speakers. For the fourth bitrate (192) has a very very slight improvement of audio quality over the 128, but really not worth the extra file size.
**Therefore, do not look down on MP3, they are a real 'life saver' for your storage device, especially on the Solid State Drives.**
