I heard from a friend that works in a mastering studio that iTunes is an inferior WAV/AIF - MP3 converter and that when it comes to making distribution quality 320kbps, that one should avoid it. Now, my question is... if Logic, who is owned by Apple, is converting WAV/AIF run through the same "processes", resulting in similar quality MP3's? My own common sense would leave me to believe not as Logic is a professional DAW. So, i guess the ultimate question is, are converted MP3s from mastered WAV/AIF in Logic distribution quality MP3's, or does it not really matter at all?

Hi bunda, I hear a lot of people complain about the wave to mp3 conversion in iTunes. AFAIK Logic does a better job... at least in my experience! For what it's worth, mp3 is a terrible format anyway and loses much of the information. Better to export to AAC or CD quality 44.1 Wave IMHO. Thanks Rounik

Absolutely! However, there are many digital music stores that offer MP3s as a format, so one has to cater to those customers who prefer to compromise audio quality for hard drive real estate. However, I would then like to offer them the absolutely best possible quality MP3.

I can't wait for the day when mp3 is a ditched!! In today's world there's no excuse for these record companies offering inferior mp3 albums at the same price as CD albums..! [rant over] Check the bit rate these companies distribute at, e.g. 192 seems pretty standard for "higher quality". But, in your position I'd also convert to 320 with VBR on. Best Rounik