Of course I use LAME, but I've got a question. I've heard that (when encoding to mono) 192kbps is equal to 96kbps. Is this true? The quote was something like "96 is half of 192, but its the same quality", which of course it is half, but does it loose quality?
In general, (for CBR encodings) a 96 kbps MONO stream is roughly the same quality as a 192 kbps STEREO stream. But this ignores the advantages gained by encoding with joint-stereo, since either channel may then be effectively higher or lower than half the average bitrate.
So, as a general rule-of-thumb it is a valid assumption, but weigh your listening requirements and make an encoding selection accordingly.
- M.