# Different Bitrate value between mp3tag and windows explorer **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [September 28, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254 "2008-09-28T06:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![M.A.X](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@M.A.X](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/M.A.X)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/1 "2008-09-28T06:02:17Z")
I noticed the for some songs the Bitrate value displayed in Windows Explorer (WinXP) and the value shown for the song in mp3tag are different. For example, one file shows up as 256kbps in windows explorer, while mp3tag says it's 181kBit/s Any idea why? ---
**Author:** ![Stevest](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Stevest](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Stevest)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 8:01am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/2 "2008-09-28T08:01:54Z")
MP3Tag says the right bitrate, Explorer is stupid. I think Explorer says the _initial_ bitrate of the file, not the average bitrate of the whole file. Anyway the difference appears in VBR files only. ---
**Author:** ![d\_headshot](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/47e85d/32.png) [@d\_headshot](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/d_headshot)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/3 "2008-09-29T20:39:22Z")
In programs such as winamp, itunes, and mp3tag, it shows the absolute correct information. If you are looking at a vbr mp3, it will usually show the highest bitrate possible. On itunes, it usually has a "VBR" beside the bitrate just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Martin2108](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@Martin2108](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Martin2108)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 8:49am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/4 "2020-10-11T08:49:00Z")
Dear community, I've downloaded a mp3 album with (constant) 320kb/s bitrate. All players I tried (and even file properties) show 320 bitrate. Mp3tag shows 128 bitrate for all tracks except one, where it even doesn't display a bitrate. Any suggestions why ? ---
**Author:** ![Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/florian/32/5759_2.png) [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/5 "2020-10-11T09:00:19Z")
See "MP3 Diags" from > [@How to check files for errors?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-check-files-for-errors/44633): > > It’s required and often helps to reduce support cycles to check files for errors before filing a bug report. Symptoms of erroneous files are often missing or wrong bitrate or length audible blips or skips tags seem to be sticky and cannot be removed There are some really good tools to check the files for errors, namely MP3 Diags — identifies many different issues in MP3 files Website: [http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net](http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net) Download: [MP3 Diags - Getting MP3 Diags](http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net/010_getting_the_program.html#binWindows) If the font size in MP3 Diags is … It'll most likely reveal the issue with that file. ---
**Author:** ![Martin2108](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@Martin2108](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Martin2108)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 9:41am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/6 "2020-10-11T09:41:03Z")
Thank you very much, Florian. I've checked and corrected the folder in question, it's fine now. May I express my admiration for your very, very helpful program. Keep up the excellent work. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:21pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-bitrate-value-between-mp3tag-and-windows-explorer/7254/7 "2026-02-09T12:21:07Z")