Advanced Audio

Each audio track can be encoding using different quality settings. For example, you may want the main audio to use a high bitrate for the best quality. At the same time, you could use a low bitrate for the director's commentary track to reduce the overall file size.

Select each track, one at a time, from the drop down list. Choose the encoding settings you want to use for the selected track. Most of the settings are fairly obvious although for MP3 files, you have a choice between CBR or ABR mode.

In Constant Bitrate (CBR) mode, the bitrate will be the same for the whole file. It means that each part of the audio will use the same number of bits. As a result, complex parts of the music will be of a lower quality than the easiest ones. The main advantage is that the final size won't change and can be accurately predicted.

In Average Bitrate (ABR) the encoder will maintain an average bitrate while using higher bitrates for the parts of your music that need more bits. The result will be of higher quality than CBR encoding but the average file size will remain predictable, so this mode is highly recommended over CBR. Unfortunately, not all players support ABR mode during playback.

Near the bottom of the Advanced Audio tab, there is a check box to encode all selected tracks with these settings. You may find this option handy if you are converting a video file with lots of tracks.