16 bits per sample. 44,100 samples per second. 705600 bits per second, 689.025 kilobits per second. Of course that doesn't relate in a meaningful way to MP3 encoding, but I can't begin to imagine what is meant by saying 172kbps MP3 is 'cd standard'.
What I mean by MP3 distortion are little artifacts, if you will, at certain points in some songs, usually only on one channel, they are kind of like little bursts of white noise, they're quite hard to explain without you being able to hear them. You probably have to pay quite close attention to notice them, but I do pay close attention when listening to music. I assume they are a side effect of the MP3 encoding system just as JPEG artifacts are side-effects of how they are encoded.
This is entirely unrelated to the compression effect when playing MP3s, which does kind of manifest itself as a lack of 'loudness'. This is a more audiophiliac distinction, so I didn't make a point about it, but yes, it makes the whole thing sound unclear and hazy (in a fairly subtle, but definitely noticable, way). A non-audiophile would most likely notice the songs not sounding as 'loud' or as rockin' as they usually do.
