Hi Tony!  Always nice to read comments on this interesting theme,
especially if a practical expert is the author.  :-)

I share your opinion, just one tiny correction -- you wrote:

> 1. Getting the audio in to your program ... If it is a professional
> recording on CD or MP3, etc., you can import and convert it to a wave
> file without any loss compared to the source.

MP3-coded recordings use a wide range of psycho-acoustic 'tricks'
aiming at the characteristics of the human ear and 'sound processing'
of the brain.  Therefore you cannot state there is no "loss compared
to the source", quite the reverse: heavy losses will occur, although
people with a 'normal' sense of hearing will detect no differences
(according to MP3 vs. WAV test comparisons in audio magazines).

Cheers!

Claus Kucher