how to get the best sound from compressed music files stored in apple mac?

What equipment do you use??

I don't use any equipment right know, I have a pc speaker and that's it.

Do you have a budget in mind??

Yes, my budget is around 600-700 pounds.

Audioengine A2s for your speakers (or even the A5s if you can keep them in budget) - I use a direct RCA connection from my Airport Express to them so no DAC and they still sound great. Of course putting in an external DAC will doubtless improve this, but I haven't gone that route as yet.

I would add since re-ripping all my CDs to lossless format , they sound even better. Previously all my music was MP3s ranging from 128 Kbps to 320 Kbps. But you don't want to hear that... 

Thank you for your response professorhat. So do you mean that I can convert my mp3 files that range form 128 kbps to 320 kbps to lossless files by re-ripping? Or do you mean that from now on I should rip my cds in lossless format?.I don't rip from cds because I don't really buy that many cds since I download music from internet so is there any way of converting my downloaded mp3 files to lossless files?

Sorry, I meant re-ripping my CDs to lossless, you can't convert a downloaded file to any higher quality than the one you downloaded it at so a 128Kbps file can never be improved on. It's one of the main reasons I gave up on downloading files a long time ago (I also listen to music on CD in my main room) and also all the DRM peed me off.

It could be worth looking at a few sites which offer higher quality downloads though. I'm no expert on these as I just buy the CD, but I know they exist and I think B&W has a site which does some. Hopefully some other guys can help me out here!

 hello,

it is possible to get very nice hi fi sound from mpeg files. i encode mine with the audiograbber program for windows at 320 kbps with the high quality setting box checked. my ear says that 192 kbps is good enough for hi fi sound.

first priority is to start with a decent soundcard, for example a creative x-fi titanium for desktop or an external for laptop.  ALL the ones integrated to motherboards have very low quality in comparison and the acoustic difference is easily heard.

then the other suggestion is to download mp3s with a bit rate equal to or greater than 192 kbps. The higher the bettter of course. Lossless flacs are the best.

 my pc setup is:

soundcard creative audigy 2

amp roth mc4 music coccoon           about 250 EU from ebay germany

speakers scandyna micropod se      about 120 pounds from amazon

sub bose acoustimass gen. III           130 EU from ebay

The amp speaker outputs are connected to the sub, then the sub connects to the speakers. with this boss sub i don't need a sub out. 

 Sweet and warm music with this setup although not the loudest.

 hope this helps

Yeah prof's hit the nail on the head here - the audioengines he recommends are great and would be a great start, though final quality will be determined by your reasonably poor quality mp3s. I'd use that extra 400-500 quid to buy CDs and rip to lossless.......

I find that MP3s sound fine through high end DACs and systems if the recording is good in the first place.

For example, Bossa Nova music and Jazz.

If you are going to stick to downloads then you'd do well to spend some time finding out where you can get higher quality files. Perhaps unsurprisingly the world of electronic music is ahead of the game  - check out the list of sites below that sell tracks in 320kbps and lossless formats.

MP3's 320k & FLAC


MP3's>>>BEATPORT


MP3's>>>BOOMKAT


MP3's>>>DUBPLATE


MP3's>>>BAREFILES


MP3's>>>BLEEP


MP3's/FLAC's/WAV's>>>ADDICTECH


MP3's/WAV's>>>JUNODOWNLOAD


FLAC's/WAV's>>>DIGITAL TUNES