Zune Marketplace Song Bit Rate: 192 kbps WMA

[Jason Dunn]

Music quality matters a lot, and while for many people the 128 kbps MP3 files they download from Limewire might sound &quot;jut fine&quot;, I rip my music at 256 kbps in MP3 format and if I have to buy digital copies of music instead of CDs I try to find the highest bit rate possible. MSN Music had 160 kbps VBR WMA files, which sounded quite excellent, but no one seems to have discovered what type of quality level the Zune Marketplace songs will be sold at. I emailed a contact I have at Edelman, the PR firm handling the Zune account, and I was told that the Zune Marketplace songs are in <strong>192 kbps WMA format</strong>. That's tasty - very high quality! He didn't know if the songs were CBR or VBR, but regardless, 192 kbps is some nice high-quality audio.

[Covert]

I'd venture to guess that they're constant bit rate, since that's exactly what Urge does (192 KBPS CBR).

In fact, I'm surprised that most of the articles I've read about the Zune Marketplace don't make more references to WMP 11 and Urge. They're basically the same products.

[Jason Dunn]

In fact, I'm surprised that most of the articles I've read about the Zune Marketplace don't make more references to WMP 11 and Urge. They're basically the same products.

Actually, there's been no confirmation that URGE is the engine behind the Zune Marketplace in terms of providing content, and as for WMP11, I guess I assumed that everyone just knew that. ;)