Maximum PC

About 5 years ago I ripped my whole CD collection to my computer at 192kbps VBR and I've noticed that all the songs I initially ripped are now showing the bit-rate at 32kbps(or, in some cases, 40kbps). They've been moved around from hard drive to hard drive as I've updated/rebuilt different computers but I wouldn't think that a digital file could degrade, is there any explanation for this? I know, the easiest explanation is that I ripped them at the lower bit-rate by accident but I checked every album after I initially ripped them and they were showing the correct bit-rate.

Has the actual size of the files gone down as well?
Are they still at least a few megabytes each?
Has the sound degraded? I mean, a file that was ripped at 192kbps VBR will sound a whole lot better than one at 32 or 40.
Do the files each still have the same playing time?

Thanks for the reply OvenMaster...The file size is still showing what you would expect for 192 VBR and the playing time is still correct, the sound is a little "dirtier" than what I would expect from a 192 VBR rip but certainly not as bad as you would expect from something ripped at 32 or 40.

Okay. I'll admit... this is weird.
Do the files still show they're 32 or 40kbps after they're transferred to another computer, say someone else's?

Do you have a better sound system? Or a different one? I had a friend complain to me that my tracks sounded better than his, even though they were the same source, it was because of his sound system. Also, some sound cards (if you've updated drivers or changed sound output devices) will try and make MP3 playback sound 'better' through use of 'spacialization' or abience/echo or even specialized equalizer settings.

There's a ton of different players that could be affecting the perception of your music. Generally 192 VBR should be pretty good, but on a super-sound system I can usually tell the difference from that and 320 even with my old ears. It doesn't sound 'horrible' but you get the idea.

I've transferred my music collection through 6 hard drives now, the sound quality has remained the same (so has the file size) so something else is probably affecting the reproduction.

Thanks for the reply Obsidian...I actually figured it out and it was a glitch in Winamp that was reporting the wrong bit-rate but just for the cd's I'd ripped all those years ago, so there is still a mystery but at least I know there is nothing in my computer stealing the bit-rate from my rips!