The bit rate or bitrate of media measures the bits used to store the data per second (kilobits per second, kbit/s or kbps). It is formally defined as the product of (bits per sample) × (samples per second).
A constant bit rate or constant bitrate (CBR) is a bit rate that does not change.
A variable bit rate or variable bitrate (VBR) is a bit rate that varies depending upon the complexity of the data.
An average bit rate or average bitrate (ABR) may refer to either
<var>total bits</var> ÷ <var>time</var>
or a form of VBR.
Some common bit rates for mp3 files are 128 kbit/s (standard), 192 kbit/s (medium quality), 256 kbit/s (high quality) and 320 kbit/s (highest quality).<br> A low bit rate (below about 128 kbps) makes for poor audio quality.