Well in this particular case, I think that $sound() is returning the correct info. The whole problem came to my attention after trying to fix a trackbar on a mp3 player. And as far as I can tell it's $insong.pos that is giving me all my problems. I could use $sound().vbr to check and see if the mp3 is VBR or not, but when I apply the params to the trackbar the only thing I can use to get the current position in a song is $insong.pos. Which doesn't correspond with the actual length, that's the reason I said something about a .pos propety for $sound() .... just should have thought it out a little better before posting.
