What is a "Bit rate" of a song?

Question

What does it mean and what does it have to do with the compatibility of music players out there today?

Thanks 4 all opinions.

Answer 1

Audio (MP3)

* 32 kbit/s — MW (AM) quality
* 96 kbit/s — FM quality
* 128 - 160 kbit/s - Decent quality, difference can sometimes be obvious
* 192 kbit/s — Good quality, difference can only be heard by a few
* 224 - 320 kbit/s — High quality, nearly lossless quality

Answer 2

Bitrate means how many bits are processed per second. i.e. 128kbps = 128 000 bits processed per second. A bit is the smallest measure of data used by a computer. It can be a 0 or a 1. Bitrate generally doesn't have any impact on player compatibility but mp3s only go up to 320kbps. Sound on a CD has a bitrate of 1411.2 kbps. So obviously if you want smaller files to save space, you download or rip your music at a lower bitrate, but if you're more concerned about the sound quality, go for higher rates. I don't think it really makes much difference unless you listen to music loud through big speakers anyway. Higher bitrates also use more of an mp3's battery power

Answer 3

Bits are what a computer uses to store and read data. The bit rate is the number of bits the computer reads per second. The higher the bit rate, the better the sound quality.