I've done a lot of comparison listening, and found ogg to be superiour in audio quality at most bitrates. I think ogg Q 4.99 is a great balance between file size and audio quality. 4.99 retains cross-channel coupling, so the file size is smaller than a 192kbs mp3, yet is high enough q to be noticabley better sounding.

Also, the benefits of open source formats like this aren't to be tossed aside lightly. Sure it doesn't seem to be bothering you at the moment that you aren't paying the mp3 license fees, but with DRM getting built into more and more devices, accountability grows, and big business can pull the noose tight on you. Remember how internet radio was basically shut down recently? Thats due in part to mp3 licencing issues. You can stream ogg all you want without fear of anyone trying to stop you on format licencing issues, because its free. Free doesn't mean 'no cost', it means that you don't have to put all your eggs into some companies basket in order to use it.

Ogg may not be the best choice for many mac users until the ipod supports it, i admit, but I hope that the ipod will eventually support it, and when it does, I fully expect to switch my collection to ogg. (small technical note: transcoding from mp3 to ogg (or between any different encoding methods) is not recommended. It harms the sound quality quite a bit. The best option is to go back to the source material and re-rip and encode. Until you can do that, stick with a 'hybrid' collection of mp3s and ogg, and just phase out the mp3 over time as you have the time to access the source material.)

peace,
sam