Quality regarding mp3 to CD and back to mp3.

[sickboy_xl]

Please forgive me (and redirect me) if this is already covered somewhere in this forum. I have a few CD's that were ripped from 128/kbps mp3's. I would like to convert them back to mp3's. Obviously if I rip them to a higher bitrate, they won't sound as good (i'm not sure of technical explanation why, but i get the idea). However, will I lose any sound quality if I rip them back to 128/kbps mp3's?

Also, on a slightly different note, can mp3's lose quality from simply moving an mp3 file around? For instance taking an mp3 file, sending it via messenger to someone, and then receiving it back from them. Or even retrieving it from a data disc? I suspect no, but just want to be sure.

[Cornucopia]

#1 The damage has already been done. Subsequent compressions won't do QUITE as much damage, but it still happens and IS cumulative.

#2 ALL (edit: mp3) compression is lossy. There is no "magic" to re-compressing at the same rate.

#3 Higher bitrates will yield LESS loss/artifacting (even though you've already compromised the quality the 1st time), but there'll still be some quality loss.

#4 Didn't you save the original MP3's??? They surely don't take up as much space as the CD you created from them.

#5 Moving and copying data (***assuming there are no unrecoverable ERRORS to the pipeline or medium***) is ALWAYS lossless/identical. MP3's, Zip, Txt, DV, PDF...Doesn't matter, Data is Data. Note that "ripping" tracks isn't necessarily the same as copying.

Scott