What I don't get is that the TR47 states it has 2-4 Mbps (higher-end PCM audio), the Farsignt Ana has 4.5 Mbps (192 kbps AC3), while the new ISOMIX Ana edition states 5-8 Mbps and DUAL 448 Kbps audio tracks.

Are these ISOMIX specs whacked, or is there some uber-compression going on?

Well first there is NO Uber-compression it's called 2nd pass VBR MPEG2 encoding.

You can have the BEST video capture but it's usless without the proper ENCODING....

Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding means that you encode a file at a fixed rate, such as 4.5 Kbps. For many people this is a common method of encoding MPEG1, MPEG2 and MP3s. You can usually tell CBR files because they have consistent file sizes and sound quality. OK, file sizes aren't the kind of thing most of you will look out for. We know that.

Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoding is a method that ensures high video and audio quality - bit-allocation decisions during encoding. The encoder allocates an appropriate amount of data per second, depending on the complexity of the video or the audio file.

MOST consumer level MPEG2 encoders use CBR or a VBR with rates of 2-5 Kbps

That being said - VBR kicks the shit out of CBR - Most commercial DVD's use VBR also

As for the MeBeJedi set - yes it has peaks of upto 8-9 Kbps and the video and audio are stupendious on the PROTOTYPE he sent me - MeBeJedi took the care and has invested almost over half a year doing this. He has also invested MANY, MANY hours away from his family and friends and has spent endless hours encoding. The fact is he cares - HE took the time to research the whole Digital Video thing when others have not. SO the end result is a better capture and better encoding.