>>adding info into the "Custom" and "Quality" fields
MJ references filenames for these fields (they are not saved in the MP3 as tags but are MJ database fields). The "filename" of a song on the CD is a hexadecimal number which Windows then calls cda1, cda2.....
A ripped & encoded song has a discrete filename.
If you were to pop that CD back in you should see your entries in the "Custom" and "Quality" fields.
Long & short of it: Your edits on a CD file will NOT transfer over to your hard disk version.
>>Also can someone explain the differences between the "MP3 Encoder" and "MP3 Encoder VBR" plugins?
The former will produce CBR files (Constant BitRate) while the latter produces VBR (Variable BitRate).
In terms of quality 320 CBR is the highest, but of course, file sizes are quite large. VBR at High setting produces files that sound as good, but are still large.
Use VBR at Normal/High (equivalent to using --alt -preset standard with LAME external encoder), files still sound as good (averages around 192 kb/s), but are much smaller.
Xenno