256bit rate has never bothered me. I have issues with storage at my home. The only time I buy cds now is when it's not avail at iTunes or Amazon. I've actually gotten to the point to where all the older cds I bought I'm rebuying little by little on itunes or amazon and selling my cd. I am now collecting music, tv shows, and movies all digitally now. A couple of hard drives to me is so much better than having hundreds to thousand of cds and dvds laying around the house.