Apple Logic Express 9 - Manual (Page 1240)

Audio MP3 Preferences
The MP3 pane contains the following preferences:
• Bit Rate (Mono/Stereo) pop-up menus: You can choose bit rates between 32 kbps and
320 kbps, but the defaults are 80 kbps mono and 160 kbps stereo. These rates offer
acceptable quality and good file compression. If you can afford the increased file size,
you should choose 96 kbps for mono and 192 kbps for stereo streams. These settings
will deliver better audio quality. You can, of course, choose even higher rates, but the
quality improvement in bit rates above 96/192 kbps is minimal.
• Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR) checkbox: Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoding
compresses simpler passages more heavily than harmonically rich passages, generally
resulting in better-quality MP3s. Unfortunately, not all MP3 players can accurately
decode VBR-encoded MP3s, which is why this option is off by default. If you know that
the audience for your MP3 files can decode VBR-encoded MP3s, you can turn this option
on.
1240 Chapter 43 Preferences in Logic Express