You are probably in very SERIOUS need of new monitors.

Really. Even at very high and VBR there's an audible diferrence.

At low rates like 128 or 160, even 192kbps, it should hit you in the head.

mp3 is a perceptual coding system. The coder, using the principle of masking, determines what data corresponds to perceptible sound and what data corresponds to imperceptible sound. Then, the coder discards the imperceptible data which is how it saves bits.

Massive Mastering wrote: You are probably in very SERIOUS need of new monitors.

Really. Even at very high and VBR there's an audible diferrence.

At low rates like 128 or 160, even 192kbps, it should hit you in the head.

A-men to that. The difference is obvious even on a half reasonable quality boom box. For a start you should notice that the top end is dull, and the whole thing sounds flat, like it's been slammed with a compressor. Bottom end turns to mush too.

Or maybe someone else is in serious need of a new encoder? ;)

I must say that I find a MP3 encoded with a GOOD encoder (huge difference in qualities here) listenable in 128kbps, enjoyable at 160kbps and virtually indistiguishable from the original at 192kbps....just my 2 cents......and I do know what to listen for.

Yes, the free Lame encoder is very nice.

Massive Mastering wrote: You are probably in very SERIOUS need of new monitors.
.

We hope anyway......