Ok, based on the advice of this board I downloaded a song (that I know very well) from allofmp3.com in the normal OE format. I encoded it as a LAME mp3 -aps

I cannot tell the difference between the mp3 and the source!

If the transcoded OE files are this good I don't think I need OE EX

What do you guys usually use when given the option of both?

OE is fine really, i listen to mostly heavy rock, which is usually hard to compress, and i don't usually notice anything.

I would go for OE EX - let's face it it isn't that expensive on allofmp3.com.

You may want to read this.

For the rare instance I use OE EX. For most Jazz/Classic and songs I really like.
In most cases OE gives me perfect results as they are encoded with lame 384Kbits CBR.
I download them as Ogg Vorbis -q6 or lame -alt preset standard

TAS.

Well, OE EX is worth when you do lossless encoding. But then the price is not so different as if you buy the CD, which is nicer (unless it has ugly copy protection).