Audio CD's from mp3 and WAV sound different?
Reply #9 –
ReplayGain and normalization are not the same thing. Normalizing a file will adjust the volume based on the raw data. However, not all frequencies sound as loud as each other at the same dB level. ReplayGain compensates for this and attempts to adjust the volume based on the apparent loudness. (I strongly suggest browsing the ReplayGain website.) For your purposes, this is the only difference, though it is an important one.
In order to take advantage of ReplayGain, you'll need a tool that will convert back to wave, applying the ReplayGain info. Foobar2000 does this and is easy to use... highly recommended. My suggestion, and I'm sure many will agree, would be to store your music as MP3 (your requirement) and when you want to burn a music CD, convert to WAV using Foobar2000 and use those WAVs for the CD.