I'm debating between VBR and CBR for encoding my CDs, and I would like get general feedback from "those in know" as to how various devices, including the Rio Car, handle VBR files, specifically with regard to timestamps and fast-forwarding.

I would like to use VBR, but I understand that a lot of decoders have issues fast-forwarding or providing a correct timestamp for VBR MP3 files. Windows Media Player 7.x exhibits timestamp problems, for example, while WinAMP does not. Additionally, my Compaq iPaq PA-1 personal audio player displays an incorrect timestamp and cannot accurately fast-forward/rewind VBR files.

I was pleased to see that the Rio Car seems to be OK with VBR files. The only issue I noticed with the 2.0b3 software was a short popping sound after rewinding through a VBR file for a few seconds. The popping sound was only evident when rewinding through VBR; fast-forwarding VBR and rewinding through CBR were OK. VBR time-stamps appeared to be as accurate as CBR time-stamps. The popping sound is hardly an issue to me.

I would like to encode my CDs once, and use the same MP3 files for the Rio Car, PC, portable MP3 player, and any future devices that support MP3 (i.e., home audio system MP3 player). However, if VBR usually has problems on these devices, even if it's "just" timestamp and fast-forward/rewind issues, then I would probably prefer to go with CBR.

How are VBR files handled by various portable audio devices? As I said, my iPaq PA-1 will play them, but displays the wrong timestamp and cannot accurately fast-forward through the files. What about the Rio Receiver? Does it handle VBR well? Rio portable audio players like the Volt or Rio 800?

If the general concensus is that VBR support is inconsistent across various products, then I will probably have to go with CBR. Thanks in advance for your advice.