check out the below link, it should explain what vbr is better.

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=VBR

unless you know you need CBR, modern consensus seems to be to use VBR since it uses the most efficient algorythms to get the best quality at the smallest size/bit rate for the quality level you have chosen.

Hi there. First time poster.

After much research I recently purchased MM 3.0 Gold. I'm having a few problems (which I'll post on relevant boards) including this one. On the whole though I'm finding MM to be a top program and hopefully the digital musical storage/management answer I've been looking for.

I've decided to rip my collection to FLAC files. 20 albums down, 400+ to go. After converting to MP3s, I noticed the bit rate on my Creative Zen Vision M 60gb varies wildly. I thought I was converting to MP3s at 192 VBR. I didn't realise some tracks would be as low as 128 (Muddy Waters) or high as in the 220s (some of the tracks from the Rolling Stones 40 Licks compilation).

Is this a case of MM actually doing what I'm asking, the problem being me not fully understanding what I'm asking of MM?? (ie. operator error??!? ) Should I convert with a CBR?

It probably depends on the file but I'm not sure to be honest. You can read more about it here.

thats totally dependant on the files that are encoded.. if they can be efficiently encoded at lower bit rates, then the savings should be noticable.. if they are not then they will probly be very close to 256 anyway and the savings will be minimal.. the only way to know is to try it both ways..

nohitter151 wrote:If you want it to say 256, then use CBR (although the files will be a larger file size for minimal quality gain).

Then I guess I shouldn't really worry about it if the quality gain is neglible.

But how much larger will the files really be?

Son of Spam wrote:I set the Conversion Settings to 256. But after conversion I'm only getting 224 or even 160.

Okay, I guess there isn't much of a difference between 224 and 256, but that's not the point.

Why aren't my song files being converted to the set parameters?

Yeah, you probably have it set at VBR. If you want it to say 256, then use CBR (although the files will be a larger file size for minimal quality gain).

CBR, ABR, or VBR?

If you want exactly 256, make sure you specify constant bit rate, otherwise the encoder will try to determine the most efficient bit rate for the particular frame.

I set the Conversion Settings to 256. But after conversion I'm only getting 224 or even 160.

Okay, I guess there isn't much of a difference between 224 and 256, but that's not the point.

Why aren't my song files being converted to the set parameters?