How come in some MP3's the bitrate fluctuate as reported in Winamp but not WMP?

[psteng19]

When I play a certain music file in Winamp 5.0x (I believe it's an MP3 but Windows reports it as "Winamp media file", the bitrate will fluctuate. It goes from 128 -> 320 -> 192, etc. randomly.

When I play the same file in WMP10, it stays at 192 kbps.

It only happens on some MP3's and not all.

 

[carlosd]

Because Windows Media Player Sucks!

 

[jfall]

You are referring to VBR (Variable Bit Rate). Personally, I find it annoying to see the bitrate changing so frequently, it's really quite pointless

 

[JetBlack69]

Those MP3s are variable bit rate. They increase the bitrate as needed in the song. Window's Media Player doesn't correctly display the bitrate for some reason.

 

[Gurck]

WMP simply isn't displaying the fluctuations. Try a better player such as foobar2k, where you can choose whether or not to see fluctuations and if so, the refresh rate. I'm with jfall, I prefer not to see it changing - the point isn't to have a changing number on your screen, but rather better-sounding music

 

[duragezic]

Yeah I don't like to see it fluctuate either but who listens to music just staring at their media player?

Oh, and WMP is garbage... I put Winamp into the little shade and dock the playlist under it (and place these up to the left of the min/maximize buttons), enqueue some songs, and I'm set to listen and do whatever else I need to do.