Most of my MP3s are 128 and sound fine (to me anyways) going thru my analog MidiLand subwolfer and speakers that come out of my iMac's audio out port. Haven't tried hooking it up to my stereo directly yet, but I have burnt some audio CDs from 128 MP3s and they sound fine on my surround sound stereo, too. I guess it's just how sensitive your ears can pick up
