320Kb sites

Zune and 7Digital.com. But not everything there is 320kb. I think Sony and Capitol tracks are. Warner appears not to allow any MP3s to be released in anything but flat 256kb. Even Warner's MP3s on Amazon don't use variable bitrate encoding -- they're just flat 256kb.

Edited by Brian W.

Fetta wrote: Thanks Brian. Would you recommend either of the two? Also, when you say flat 256kb, is there a 256kb that is not flat and is there a difference? Really sorry if these questions are basic but I guess I dont have an understanding of the basics. Ive always just tried to get everything at 320kb. Thanks

Yes, there are variable bitrate MP3s, usually encoded with a free online encoder called LAME. There are quality settings in LAME, the highest being V0, which will encode at at average bitrate of 256kb, but more complex parts of the song will probably go up to 320kb.

iTunes Plus does the same thing... it's variable bitrate encoding. Though iTunes Plus is capable of going up to over 400kb, even though the average bitrate will stay around 256kb.

But 320kb is the highest you can go with the MP3 format, so a variable bitrate MP3 is never going to sound BETTER than a flat 320kb one would.

I'd go for 7Digital, only because you don't have to download their software to buy. Also, it clearly says next to each title what bitrate it's encoded at, so you know BEFORE you purchase. I'm not sure Zune has that info readily available.