i'm using lame 3.93.1 but i saw recently almost everybody uses 3.90.3? is there any reason too or not? 3.93.1 is a stable version of 3.93, is he better than 3.90.3? i searched the forum but couldn't find a good answer

If you searched the forum, why didn't you take a look at the FAQ first?

It lists several threads about your problem:

All you need to do is just to encode with 3.90.3 from now on. Dont bother re-encoding your old MP3's, the difference is incredibly negligable.

A good question schytluisje. One I have been wondering about too.

Every time someone asks which lame version they should be using they are refered to the mp3 faq, or the stickies in mp3 section. The problem is that the 'list of recommended lame compiles' was posted in Dec 2001, and the 'List of recommended Lame settings' was posted in Oct 2001. People like me wonder if any improvements have been made since version 3.90.3

I realise that 3.90.3 has been extensively tested but are we to believe that this version is the best that lame and mp3 in general has to offer? If so, then so be it, we would just like a definitive answer from someone in the know.

Is there any chance that version 3.93.1 will also be subjected to similar tests and tweaking? Again the answer may well be: 'no, we have achieved transparency already.'

Please Dibrom or some other guru, let us know if lame mp3 has reached the limit to what it can achieve.

Thanks

3.93.1 has no practical quality improvements considering alt-presets. There's nothing remarkable in 3.93.1 which would justify new testings and tweakings of alt-presets. 3.94 alpha and 4.0 alpha are a lot more different from the 3.93.1/3.90.3, but seems that Lame developers have no time anymore and Dibrom lost the interest in Lame.
There were efforts to tweak 3.94 alpha presets to the 3.90.3 level, but at least at preset standard level it hasn't suceeded yet (except in some special cases).

It's been really quiet in the open source audio encoder front for a long time now anyway. Well, FAAC is improving little by little, but it's understandable, because it's so bad, so ít's still reasonably easy to get improvements with it. Also Garf's Vorbis tuning in GT3 is a small exception.

A coherent and helpful reply JohnV. Thanks for that. Can we confirm that version 3.93.1 is not going to give worse encodings than 3.90.3 (if not better)?

It is a shame that folk have become disinterested in improving the lame codec. Especially, considering what has been achieved already...

Nobody knows! To be on the safe side use lame 3.90.3!

dev0

Fair enough Dev0 good advice, like I said though, its a tragedy that people seem to have washed their hands of mp3 now. Myself, I'm blissfully happy with 3.90.3 alt preset standard (even though I have niggling worries I may be missing out on even better quality with later versions).

MPC seems to have cast a permanent shadow over mp3, and the weatherman don't seem to think the clouds will shift...

I think, after this long time since 3.93.1 has been introduced, someone would have noticed any examples, where 3.93.1 has become worse.

And because nobody has done this so far, I would guess, that both versions are equivalent.

Folks

It is a shame there seems to be a loss of interest in LAME development, as others have pointed out in this thread. AAC or MPC or MP4 or whatever, may be better, but they can't be played out there in the millions of MP3 portable stereos or DVD/CD players. I for one like to play my MP3's using my iRiver MP350. It can play LAME MP3 pretty well but cannot handle any of the new formats.