i'm satisfied with mp3 quality compare to mini disk or other encoding methods. macintosh's on board sound property and altec's peripheral speaker can sound it with very good quality.

for macintosh, following freeware is the best choice for today. others that i know have many bugs.
encoder: mpecker encoder,
player: mpeg audio player 1.7b4 (1.6 &1.7b3 have bugs)
-takeo