For reference these are the headphones I use for out and about listening: http://amzn.to/uMC7Oy Not really interested in spending a bunch of money on headphones that I take with me everywhere. I just want some tunes in my ears and something to deter strangers from bothering me at the bus stop.

I usually do all of my headphone listening on the bus, so that's a less than ideal listening situation in the first place, with all of the outside noise. Generally, I have my iTunes set to convert bigger bitrate mp3s down to 128kpbs, just so I can fit more on it. But one day I did an experiment and got a 128kpbs CD rip of a song and a 320kpbs 45rpm vinyl rip of the same song ('Supercollider' by Radiohead) and played them back to back on the bus. Even on crap headphones with a bunch of external interruptions, the difference was immediately noticeable.

Now, generally, when I'm listening on the go like that, fidelity isn't what's on my mind. But I'm definitely aware of it now.

~Austin