This encoder is renowned as the best VBR MP3 encoder. VBR means "variable bitrate", where a different bitrate is used on each frame of the MP3. So instead of lackluster 128k, or oversized 320k being used throughout the entire song, different bitrates are used where they are needed.

It is known as the best, for several reasons, which I shall explain here.

1) It uses something called "--alt preset"s. These are different "quality levels" for the MP3s. Many people worked for months on top notch audio equiptment to tune them perfectly, what bitrate to use, what stereo to use, what bitrate to use, etc. It is the best for VBR.

--alt preset standard - Good for pretty much everything.
--alt preset extreme - A tad better than --alt preset standard, what I recommmend using, in ABX tests, the extreme was a lot harder to tell from the WAV.
--alt preset insane - This is almost "as good as it gets", a complete waste %99 of the time, since if you could tell the difference in the --alt preset extreme, you probably can with --alt preset insane, due to the limitations of MP3s on certain, rare, most of the time unidentifiable sound waves on test samples.

2) It gets rid of the silences in the audio to save space.

3) Shows a spiffy histogram of what bitrate is being used on parts of the song, that changes every second on the fly while encoding.

4) Uses the LAME binaries, and lets you change them. The LAME encoders use files, dubbed lame.exe, for the encoding. So if you want to use LAME 3.90.2, you download it, you point easyLAME to the lame.exe you downloaded, and it'll use that LAME. IF you want to use LAME 3.93.1, you can do that. 3.90.2 is what it comes with, and is what is recommended.

5) It also works with CBR, "constant bitrate", where the bitrate is the same throughout the song.

DISCLAIMER;
Remember, that MPC has been shown to be the only lossy format that on certain clips was "transparent", meaning it sounded identical to the CD, in blind listening tests . At any bitrate, lossy codecs are not perfect, just close to it under most conditions, to the human ear.

Enjoy getting the best quality out of MP3!

Download LAME here.

You can thank me for the engaging the sexy clicking action in the word "here"

PS - I used lame a while back. I now use Musicmatch cause I'm a lazy .

EAC(which will have an article soon ) is no doubt, the best ripper. Some library cd had so many scratches, it couldn't play, skipped ever 3 seconds. I used EAC to rip it, set to repair errors, high, etc, it took almost an HOUR(ridicoulous), and there were 2 skips in the entire CD! EAC wins there.

And Frawgster, the laziness has gone too far.

Lame, IMO, is the best high bitrate MP3 encoder there is, hands down. However, anything below 160 (some argue 192), that FhG is better. I now use the --alt-preset-extreme preset, and my MP3s sound flawless.

For my personal archiving, I stick with the lossless compressions, but for playing MP3s on the go, nothing better than Lame

Yep this feature is on the Dbpoweramp, i use it alot now that you've explained it. Thanx

I just learned something new. I didn't even know about bitrate and I find that all my MP3's are 80k and I didn't keep all of the WAV files either. Bummer. Still, the ones I did keep sound better, so thank you.

80k? You should redo them...

and dBpowerAMP screws up the --alt presets, you have to get the new lame.dll from their site in the forum for beta testing