Not sure if any of this will help, but here goes..
Some guy :: I worked at Apple Computer from 1988 to 1992.
http://christhorman.com/projects/diary/apple/
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Here is some more information, a group of people that may have delt with compressed audio would be the DJ business.
"The problem with this is that the speed at which the telephone networks in the late 1980's sent information was far too slow for uncompressed audio. As a result, several companies undertook extensive research to discover an effective way to compress audio enough to be sent over the telephone lines."
http://david.weekly.org/mp3book/ch1.php3
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