Sure, Bob; that's how "lossy" audio compression formats such as MP3 work. A large part of the digital data is removed in a way that in the best examples causes little or no audible loss of sound quality. For example, the CD format uses 44.1KHz sampling frequency X 16 bits X 2 channels = 1411.2 K bits/s. Even the highest MP3 rate of 320 Kbps therefore uses only a little over 20% of the total data. Nevertheless, the remarkable fact is that properly controlled blind listening tests have shown that this data compression can be inaudible, with the amount of compression that can be allowed varying with the specific music passages involved. As Alan pointed out, 320 Kbps has been shown to be audibly transparent. MP3s therefore aren't necessarily inferior in actually discernible sound quality.
