[Spliff]

What is it about VBR mp3s that causes problems with iTunes and Toast?

I've encoded mp3s with the latest version of LAME. When they play in iTunes, they sound great, but when I burn them in iTunes I hear snaps and pops. I tried burning the audio CDs at 4x and the snaps and pops are still there.

I tried using Toast to burn an audio CD, but when I drag the VBR mp3s into Toast, they are partially converted to AIFFs. I say partially because Toast doesn't finish the conversion. For instance, it will only convert 1.5 minutes of a 3 minute mp3.

Does anyone know what's going on? I guess I could rip mp3s with iTunes encoder, but the common consensus is that the LAME encoder is by far the best.

[Eug Wanker]

I have encountered incompatibilities with various versions of VBR with various decoders/hardware.

I finally gave up on VBR if the usage is for archival purposes, just to be safe. Sorry I can't help you though.