John, Rachael, Gary, Ed and Sam -

Many thanks indeed for your time and wise advice.

- It sounds like the best bet is to use the WMA RT files, as downloaded, and to look at the encoding.

- I use iTunes-8 to convert the WAV files to MP3s. I've tended to assume that's a decent converter ? What do you think ?

- I've now tried increasing the bit rate from 192 to 256 and 320, with and without VBR (in iTunes), but I can't really hear the difference. I'm listening through a decent Hi Fi set-up (NAD plus B&W speakers) - but i can't even hear the difference between the 192kbps MP3's and the original WAV files !! Maybe I'm just not listening for the right things....?

(- I've yet to get to grips with RB... That's the next project....)

Thanks again for your generous help. Best - Andy