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Your comments make sense but you would have to try it before being sure. Also I would think an MP3 recorder itself would not bother too much with great electronic since the designer is assuming anyone wanting MP3 isn't exactly a picky audiophile.
My experience has been that the better the source the better the result. That doesn;t mean its correct for everything.
I'm sure a pristine PCM converter will sound great etc. For me what did it was the price and the fact that it acts like a 2 track mixdown recorder. There was the Masterlink and a few other straight to CD recorder and other units but none were cheaper and teh ones that were close like the Masterlink had some negative reputation in the audio quality dept.
In any case most of us are converting in one way or another. It can't be avoided.
I'm sure if someone made an MP3 recorder with pristine quality converters it would sound better than converting from 24bit 96khz but I don't think it exists.
So I think all things being perfect and designed perfectly yes converting would be degrading the audio but we live in an imperfect world. Budget makes you compromise (I'd love a pair if K&H 0300 too but I can't have them....right now...so I use what I have to the best of my ability) but you can still have great results.
In the end you listen and decide regardless of what format. You have to please your own ears first then you forget the tools and get to work.
jim
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