There's nothing wrong with VBR files. In fact, VBR is arguably better than CBR. But the average/peak bit rate for VBR's should be around the 200 kbps or higher as suggested.

Personally I encode between 192 - 320 kbps depending upon my thoughts of the material. I use iTunes which has middle of the road quality encoders, but I like to use iTunes VBR in the range suggested. Some material I encode as mp3 & some as m4a. The odd one as apple lossless which uses m4a format but as suggests is lossless & has higher than 320 kbps.

Unfortunately many programs such as WMP have the default encoding set at 128 kbps. So many people just go with what's already there. duh

The idea of encoding at 128 kbps or below is a now defunct concept that was started when mp3's replaced mp2 many years ago. At that time, 128 kbps was the highest available for encoders. Propaganda at that time was such encoded files were equivalent to CD's. Rubbish!!! And thus mp3Pro no longer serves any purpose nowadays which only has positive effects for files of 128 kbps or below.

In today's world, with larger computer storage, large portable devices, we need "quality" files for sharing. The days of 2 or 4 GB Hard Disk Drives have gone. Get real people. Get into today's world & concepts.