> Between the four of us we only just managed to correctly identify the "standard" encoding, vbr around 190kbps, and even that was bloody good.

Quite. I'm reminded of a Quad loudspeaker advert of some years ago, where a (cartoon) reviewer is seated, scowling and obviously disapproving, in front of a curtain behind which is a live cello player. The point being - he'd been told he was listening to a recording played through speakers so that's exactly what he heard; rather like those who are convinced that insane bps rates make for a better sound than more realistic rates.

Last time I checked, data was still being streamed off a standard audio CD at 150kbps.