The file types and their algorithms that I am handling
on the most simple level are:

the origin file type which is WAV

the compressed file type from the WAV which is MP3

and the playback file written to cd which is WMA.

WMA allows the burned cd to playback on a boombox or other
playback devices not specifically designed for MP3.

I'm going to say that at a certain point you can't gild the
lily without making a huge file size with accompanying
playback that you couldn't tell the difference about anyway.

The more iterations you take a file through, the
more 'artifacts' get introduced even though you are still
dealing with 1's and 0's information.

Since the WAV format is the first iteration for
recording of line-in and that is the format that is used
by wave editors such as my Goldwave, playback of the
WAV file would introduce the fewest artifacts.

The encoder is likely the most important element
of the recording stream. The LAME encoder can be
engaged as an external option by my Audiograbber
program. There is actually an older version of this
encoder which has been tweaked for optimal performance.

That's the chain as I understand it.

I'm not knowing enough about Ogg Vorbis, it's compression
or lack of it, to comment on it but there's many out there who
will.