192-kbps MP3 vs 128-kbps AAC

The MP3 versus AAC digital music format reminds me the days of Intel x86 processors versus IBM’s PowerPC chips. Each camp would argue the benefits of CISC and RISC architecture and throw in rates like processors speeds to confuse things (aka the Megahertz wars).

Same now with music files. Does an MP3 sound better than an AAC music file? Now throw in encoding rates. 128kbps, 192kpbs, 256 kbps? What’s the best bang for the buck?  Does it really matter any more?