The difference between MP3 bitrates is easily heard by anyone with a mid-fi rig or better. Garbage in garbage out. The only one I've heard that isn't to f***ed up is 320 kbps. If listening to crap is OK, then it is OK but why make believe it sounds "good". 300 gig hard drives are under $100 so what's the big deal about going lossless. Almost any PC with a SPDIF out can be connected to a surround receiver and an outboard DAC will keep the computers RF noise away from the analogue signal needed for your multiroom setup and improve on most sound card as well.