iTunes not showing VBR?!

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Level 1

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iTunes not showing VBR?!

Hey there Apple Community,

right now I'm upgrading my iTunes Library in terms of quality by reencoding my CDs to ACC using the Nero AAC Encoder. Eventhough I tried every possible option, I can't get iTunes to show the Bitrate the way I want.

It would be perfect if iTunes would show something like "<target bitrate> (VBR)". I would also be happy even if it screwed up the bitrate but at least shows VBR.

The only time iTunes show the bitrate like that is when I'm using the built in iTunes-encoder, but I don't wanna use it because Nero creates the better sounding and smaller Files.

I'm thankfull for any advice or idea how I could get iTunes doing/showing what I want 😉

Greets CptSchaaf

Windows PC-OTHER, Windows 8

Posted on Jul 20, 2014 12:11 PM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

63,602 points

Jul 20, 2014 12:44 PM in response to CptSchaaf

Captain,

I am using iTunes 11.2.2.3, and it is displaying the bitrate for VBR files in the usual format, such as "256 kbps (VBR)." This is true whether the files were ripped in iTunes or purchased from other sources. Are you seeing something different?

If you are not seeing that, it may well be that Nero is formatting something that is being incorrectly interpreted by iTunes.

By the way, for the number, it appears to be using the target bitrate for AAC, but the average bitrate for MP3. There is no obvious reason for that, but there is no option to get it to do otherwise.

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Answer 2

CptSchaaf Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 20, 2014 1:19 PM in response to ed2345

Yes I'm not seeing VBR unless I'm encoding the file with iTunes using the vbr option. At least it's the case for AAC/m4a. MP3's work just fine. I'm not quite sure what the problem is.

I tried the Nero encoder and qaac. Both with tvbr (true vbr), cvbr (should do what iTunes does) and abr. Nothing worked.

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Answer 3

Jun 27, 2015 9:46 AM in response to CptSchaaf

I'm having the exact same problem. qAAC files don't show "256 kbps (VBR)". In fact they don't even show exactly 256 kbps. my "-v 256 -q 2" files are all ~268 kbps.

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