I don´t get it:
Nero MP3 Pro allows me to make mp3s at 96 Kb/s. Seems to sound ok to me and uses only half the space of files made at the usually recommended 160 or so.
How is this possible? Or am I kidding myself about the quality just cost the software cost money?
Some comments on the pros and cons of the current options would be appreciated. Thanks.

If I'm not wrong, mp3 PRO use different algorithms to compress files, and 96 should be the same of a regular mp3 compressed at 128 or 192. Sorry, I don't know the exact corrispondence, but at a lower bitrate mp3 pro give more compression at the same quality of a regular mp3

Take a look here
http://www.mp3prozone.com/

Thanks for the link...helpful cos I discovered that my Winamp needed a plug-in to decode the MP3pro file with maximum quality...downloaded now!
I´ll get you a grappa one day!

Thanks for the grappa

I'm not sure that also latest versions require a plugin to play these files. Maybe winamp 5 contain already all necessary codecs in standard installation.

That link is rather old

Hmmm...probably right as usual sir...I think I´ll do a restart to see what happens...cos I am also cleaning my msconfig start thingy...but no problems...just trying to keep this beastie running (better than is was, but should be the subject of another thread)

Have you tried some lossless codecs?

There are APE and FLAC that are both free but I'm not sure that winamp is able to read them. The free VLC player is able to read them

Being lossless, however, they produce bigger files.