[AudiA4]

I am using iTunes 5.0 (released today). I have imported my entire CD library into iTunes using the 160kbps ("High" quality) sampling rate rather than the 192kbps ("Very High" quality).

Is there a perceptable audio/quality difference between 160kbps and 192kbps?

[325Driver]

Not enough of a difference to validate re-ripping all of your cds.

[06graphite]

Does anyone know what rates the stereo will support?

[bcaslis]

I don't know what rates are officially supported but I've played songs sampled at 128kbps, 160kbps, and 192kbps.

[stelmach]

Originally Posted by 06graphite

Does anyone know what rates the stereo will support?

Do you mean through the aux input under the armrest? Any rate will be supported. The signal coming out of the headphone jack of the ipod is always just an ordinary analog signal. The difference in the different encoding rates is the quality (or the accuracy of reproduction) of the analog signal. I've encoded stuff at 128, 192, 320, and also using apple's lossless encoder. With headphones on, I can tell a difference between 128 and 192, but everything above 192 sounds the same to me. On a quality audio system, I can tell the difference between 192, 320, and lossless. Best thing to do is to encode the same song with a bunch of different encodings, and play them all in your car. If you think 128 sounds the same as a CD, then encode at 128, you'll have much more room on your ipod

[cosmosblau]

The MP3 player supports any compression up to 320.
128 sounds terrible because it washes out the cymbals.- In fact, I think 112 sounds better than 128, because the whole high end is lopped off
I compress everything at 224. 192 isn't bad, but I cannot tell the difference between 224 and 320 on this sound system.