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Message:	: The difference is how the stereo (left and right channel) were handled by the MP3 encoder when the MP3 was made. : Stereo looks at the two channels and eliminates everything that is exactly identical. : Joint Stereo uses a mathematical equation to change left/right into mid/side, and which saves space, and it also eliminates things that sound identical on both channels (mid vs side rather than left vs right in this case, though). It also checks to make sure that using this method for each tiny chunk of the song (called frames) is better than the simple left-right method. There are times when left-right will sound better than mid-side, and so for these frames, a good Joint Stereo implementation will allow left-right frames to be used. : In some encoders, such as Xing and L3Enc, joint-stereo is badly implemented, and so it's best to just use stereo. In Lame, it's best to use Joint Stereo, because it's very well-implemented. In FhG FastEncC (used by MusicMatch JukeBox), Joint Stereo is okay but only if you are using the normal encoding setting ("high" and "fast" will cause glitches). : Here are two links that explain Joint Stereo, if you're confused or not satisfied with my answer. : http://harmsy.freeuk.com/mostync/ : http://www.modatic.net/audio/stereo_vs_jointstereo.php