Access to the samples of a decoded MP3 file

I can load in a WAV file as a binary and look at each sample.
This is because WAV files are stored as PCM.

How would I do the same with an MP3 file?

I am using the MicroSoft Multimedia Control to open the MP3
Is there any way to get access to the samples via this control?

Any other ideas on how this could be done?

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The reason, is that I have an application which picks off part of sound in a wav file.
For posting on the internet, I have converted the wav files to mp3 so they are smaller for download.
MP3 however adds ~40ms to the beginning of an audio file and so the sound snippets no longer align.

Thanks!!

David