vbr

[rainbowdemon]

What exactly is VBR in a music file? I know it stands for variable byte rate. At least I think it does. And is this better than, say, 128 or 192 or whatever?

[Kooperman]

What exactly is VBR in a music file? I know it stands for variable byte rate. At least I think it does. And is this better than, say, 128 or 192 or whatever?

I have a minimal amount of tech knowledge, but the answer to your question as far as I know is Yes, it's better than 128 or 192. After a lot of trial and error I finally started ripping the CD's that I owned at full VBR using MusicMatch, and I got a beautiful copy on everything I attempted.

[rainbowdemon]

Thanks, Koop. I found some things my son in-law would like. I want them to sound as good as possible. The files are vbr.

[Ken]

It's just a more efficient way of encoding an MP3 so that when there are less taxing (quiet or "lower") parts of the song, the bit rate will decrease so that it isn't using the constant max bit rate (say, 192 for example) on a part that does not require it.

It saves file size while keeping the same quality comparable to a CBR (constant Bit Rate) file of the same song.

Basically, you'll choose a max and min bit rate for a song. Silence will use the minimum, and the most intense parts will near the max (with everything in the middle progressing in kind).

[Ken]

http://www.nathansheldon.com/xp-80/what_is_VBR.html