CBR = Constant Bit Rate, VBR = Variable Bit Rate. When a file is CBR it doesn't matter how much content is in part of the stream, the bit rate is constant. With VBR the rate varies by what bit rate you would like to encode up to. So, a 192kbps VBR will never go over 192k but will drop below 100k if there isn't much content in the stream (vocals, instruments, etc.) Thus, you have the capability to save space while not sacrificing sound quality. OGG and MP3 both support VBR. Playback of VBR is another issue. Personally I encode VBR with LAME 3.97b2 (best rated version of LAME thus far) with quality set to "0" which means up to 320k. At that point you'll have a hard time telling the difference between the MP3 and the CD. Back to playback though, many portables support VBR but not over a certain point. It's very taxing on the system.
XMMS and Winamp are great because they show you the current bitrate during playback so you can watch the numbers jump. FWIW, on Linux I prefer GRIP and on Windows I prefer AudioGrabber. Both can utilize LAME and do a great job ripping and encoding. Banshee was mentioned as an iTunes equivalent before but encoding with custom settings can't be accessed via the GUI. Cowbell seems alright for editing tags and trying to find album art. That be all, Mr O. --- Brian Gallagher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > CBR-MP3 seems to relate to iRiver, is that what you have? I > read some > mixed reviews on that flash memory player, but they all have > some > drawbacks. I guess I am just inquiring about other's > experience. I > just want an inexpensive, flash player, that's easy to work > with Linux: > FC4, FC5, or Ubuntu and runs on rechargeable batteries. > > About file size...when I was playing songs on the computer 128 > kbps was > fine for me and the Jornada (Windows Media Player) I used, > shrunk them > even smaller. I play them through $10 ear buds so I imagine > 96 kbps > would be fine. The software for this Jornada 540 series looks > like it > was a garage job, 128 MB gets about 2 CDs, and it takes > forever to load > (1.5 hrs.) > > Let me know what you like, I need a solution, I'm tired of > listening to > the radio! > > Brian __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ EUGLUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
