Thanks Clinton, I'll give it a go. I've been avoiding programs that go straight to MP3 because they always seem to want to go directly to CD and won't make files on your hard disk. I also read---maybe at the site linked in my first post---that it's better to record to .WAV first because there is no compute overhead to bog down the process and interfere with quality. Then, when the audio information has been captured in a .WAV file, the calculation-heavy MP3 encoding process can proceed at its leisure without interfering with the accuracy of the recording process. I don't have any way to evaluate the veracity of opinions like that but, as a lifelong computer guy, it rings true from a purely technical aspect.

I appreciate your not giving up on me just yet.

      - Mark