So even in transcoding, it's not MP3 compliant (VBR is a requirement of the MP3 spec, and supported on virtually any player you'll find)

Sound quality even in LP2 mode is as good as an 256kbps mp3

5 hours per disc kicks any portable mp3 player in the pants.3

The DRM software has to convert MP3 or WMA files to ATRAC/ATRAC3 for download, dropping in quality vs. pure MP3