Audacity records digital audio information. If you're recording a sound sourced from a record, with the sound source connected to a PC, it's gone through a A to D conversion. Which is what my first comment today mentioned as a factor limiting quality. PC level sound converters are of low quality generally. A really good one all by itself costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Whether a sound is stored in analog form or in consumer digital source, at the point where it's inside a PC and "recordable", it's digital. Digital is digital, the original source doesn't matter as far as ways to record it. When you say "OP", are you talking about the conversation above from many years back? PS - there's nothing at all wrong with sound stored in digital form, per se. Most modern musical sound recordings are stored in that way. But at the recording studio level, the sound is lossless and is at VERY high bitrates and VERY high sample rates, much higher in both regards than anything available or playable at a consumer level. Playback of such recordings over appropriate equipment sounds nearly exactly the same as the sound was live.

I've been using JetAudio for several years now and have never had any problem converting from any format to any other format. It will even convert to some formats I've never heard of. The plus version even works well with video files. Just click on "convert" at the top of the program, then go down to the "output format" window and click on the arrow there to select the format you want to convert to. You can even configure the output file and save it wherever you choose. Works for me...

Your post is a little confusing - you say you really don't know anything about the MP3 format, but you wish to purchase a rather expensive player aimed at people who know a lot about it, and are willing to do firmware upgrades and other tweaks to get the most out of it. Cowon is a Korean company without any presence in the US other than having a sales distributor - and no real support - not something I'd recommend based on your description of MP3 and computer knowledge. Before buying anything, you may really wish to learn more about the format, digital rights management, conversion software, and other available players.

About downloading audiobooks to the shuffle, here's what I've found on the Web: (this blog writer, at least when he wrote it, recommended the Nano over the Shuffle if you want the ability to have audiobooks but don't want to go all the way to more-expensive models) http://aldoblog.com/audiobooks/ipod-recommendations/ "So if size is such a big factor, why not consider an iPod Shuffle? Because a screen and a scrubbing control are essential for listening to audiobooks. Although the iPod Shuffle is a nice enough device, its design as a random shuffle music jukebox makes it ill-suited for playing audiobooks, where linear playback is required. While you can turn off shuffle mode, the iPod Shuffle has minimal controls for fast forward or reverse, and no way to see where you are. You will inevitably get into a position where you are in a random spot in the book, not know if thatâÂÂs were youâÂÂre supposed to be or not, and have no easy way to skim forward or backward to find the right place. And thatâÂÂs the issue in two words. The iPod Shuffle was designed with the philosophy that there is no âÂÂright placeâ in your playlist, all that matters is where you are now. Terrific for music, not so good for audiobooks. Note: IâÂÂm not saying itâÂÂs impossible to use an iPod Shuffle for audiobooks. IâÂÂm just saying itâÂÂs a [cr*ppy] experience." --end of quoted material--