Convert X to Y directly or X to WAV then to Y?

[videohalp]

Which is better: Should I convert X to Y directly? Or X to WAV then to Y?

Does X to WAV equal to decompress?

[zoobie]

go directly if possible
sometimes you're stuck with an intermediate file when things don't go as planned

[videohalp]

What about the sound quality?

[poisondeathray]

It should be the same with both, since PCM WAV is lossless

The most common reason for using the WAV intermediate would be to process it in an audio editor. If you are not processing/editing audio, go straight to your final format

[olyteddy]

Odds are even if you go "directly" from one format to another it will go through WAV anyway.

[mgh]

Have never noticed any difference in quality between the two methods. Occasionally a video being converted will either not work or give problems with loss of sync, with one of the methods but not the other.
As a rule of thumb, with vbr audio, the recommendatiion is to convert to wav first.