Existing users, 
davidc: you are correct, any time you re-compress audio or even video to a lossy format (like MP3), you lose additional data. that's why there's no good solution to removing the DRM from iTunes store AAC files; your only option is an uncompressed AIFF, which will sound terrible if recompressed.
now if your files were compressed with FLAC, that is a lossless format and would not degenerate significantly if converted to MP3. however the FLAC format is not playable in iTunes or on the iPod.
whenever i loan my home-brew music CDs to friends, i always tell them not to rip the tracks as the source files were already compressed.
PS. i love my iVolume. if only Toast or iTunes preserved the volume setting when burning, that would be something.
iVolume
Ensures that all your songs play at the same volume level.
Version: 3.5
recompression always degrades further
Feedback Type: Commentary
Contributed by: muppetdog Wednesday, February 18 2004 @ 09:11 AM PST
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: 6-12 months
Recommend Product: YES
Comments
recompression always degrades further - tersonodesign
no, you're just deaf. And obnoxious.Thursday, September 23 2004 @ 04:17 AM PDT
recompression always degrades further - G-Force
It's easy to tell the difference from CD to AAC (128kbps anyway) let alone encoding to AAC twice, trust me.BTW, why in the world would you want to decode from AAC just to reencode back to AAC???? Just to remove the DRM? That seems silly to me considering Apple's DRM is quite liberal as it is.
Wednesday, February 18 2004 @ 03:00 PM PST
recompression always degrades further - JESUSJERKER
Going from M4p -> CD -> AAC sounds find.You're just one of those lame h0m0 audiophiles that thinks thy can tell the difference (when really they're just on their period).
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Wednesday, February 18 2004 @ 10:50 AM PST