And...

If space on your HDD is an issue, than use

Monkey's Audio .ape compression...

I've tested files using cda to .ape to .wav to .ape and back to .wav... Tested them with gear from a TV station engineer friend of mine... Gear that costs more than most houses !!!...

It really is, for all practical purposes, 'lossless' !

btw, 'high-quality' .ogg is NOT 256kbps... Higher-quality .ogg starts at a min of 455kbps !

Also, who cares what is 'popular' in terms of 'size' ?
I thought the primary purpose was to present and preserve rare or semi-rare files ?


Except when using .ape, you cannot get the 'quality' back so why start 'low' ?

Keeping in my the original purpose of this discussion, it is a wonderful thing to be able to introduce 'legal' material to the filesharing community !!! Nice stuff to do !
So, do it to the max !