Why are the MP3s encoded at 200kbps?
MP3s are encoded with LAME using variable bitrate mode. That means that bitrate is used according to the complexity of the audio data. For example, a simple bass line is easy to encode and a low bitrate can be used, thus leaving high bitrate to the more complex parts of the music. In short, variable bitrate (VBR) is a more efficient encoding mode than constant bitrate (CBR), meaning that you get a better quality for the same file size. We have found encoding MP3s at about 200kbps with variable bitrate (LAME preset -V 1) to be the best compromise between portability for mobile devices and sound quality. We also have included the possibility to download FLAC if the quality of our MP3s is not satisfactory. FLAC files are lossless and exactly the same quality as the original.
