How good is it?

With my own lecture recording, I found that quality ``2'' is close enough to the original WAV file. The result is a stream that averages at less than 8 kbps. Note that kbps (lower case b) is different from kBps. 8 kbps is 8 kilo bits per second. That is not much bandwidth, even assuming the use of a 56kbps modem. The practical speed of a 56kbps modem is about 40kbps. In other words, at ``quality 2'', one hour of voice recording can be downloaded, using a modem, in 12 minutes or so.