Page "MPEG-1 Audio Layer II" Paragraph 35

* The use of an additional entropy coding tool, and higher frequency accuracy ( due to the larger number of frequency sub-bands used by MP3 ) explains why MP3 doesn't need as high a bit rate as MP2 to get an acceptable audio quality.

Conversely, MP2 shows a better behavior than MP3 in the time domain, due to its lower frequency resolution.

This implies less codec time delay-which can make editing audio simpler-as well as " ruggedness " and resistance to errors which may occcur during the digital recording process, or during transmission errors.