iPod Basic question about VBR

[GanChan]

Newb question....I imported several CD tracks today with my iTunes set to mp3, 192 VBR, normal Stereo. When I checked the bit rates of the finished files I noticed that while none of the tracks were less than 192, some were up around 197 or 198. So far, so good. My question is: How high above 192 would iTunes theoretically let a track go, with my current settings?

 

[BlizzardBomb]

At a 192kbps VBR, the 192kbps is your guaranteed minumum bitrate. Therefore, you will never get a bitrate lower than 192kbps.

If you didn't know already VBR stands for Variable Bitrate. This means for louder sounds, it will increase the bitrate and for the quiet bits, it will lower the bitrate. So if your song is something with really heavy or loud sounds, you will find the bitrate to be higher than a relaxing or gentle tune. The bitrate you get at the end is an average of the whole song and this makes it hard to predict what bitrate it will be.

 

[GanChan]

At a 192kbps VBR, the 192kbps is your guaranteed minumum bitrate. Therefore, you will never get a bitrate lower than 192kbps.

If you didn't know already VBR stands for Variable Bitrate. This means for louder sounds, it will increase the bitrate and for the quiet bits, it will lower the bitrate. So if your song is something with really heavy or loud sounds, you will find the bitrate to be higher than a relaxing or gentle tune. The bitrate you get at the end is an average of the whole song and this makes it hard to predict what bitrate it will be.

Let me rephrase: In a variable-bitrate configuration, how high above 192 would my encoding possibly allow itself to go in a particularly loud moment? 320? 256? No limit? In other words, how is the RANGE of the variation determined?

 

[ham_man]

Theorectically (spelling, I know), the bitrate could go as high as 320 kbps. However, on iTunes 192 VBR on the normal setting, I would not expect anything above 201 or 202. Hope that answers your question...