Any chance of seeing a foo_lamenc plugin?

I know you can use the foo_clienc plugin to create mp3 files, but a separate version (i think) would be better, like the foo_mpcenc and foo_vorbicenc plugins !!!

Just a thought™

Link the encoder into the binary, use the encoder dll, or use the command line encoder like foo_mpcenc?

I have to admit, its much easier to use a foo_lameenc (in the style of mpcenc) than the foo_clienc. One could be made in the style of lamedropXp'd with the -Z option and such.

If we have separate enc's for vorbis, aac, mpc and flac, why not a lameenc? Keep clienc though, for the lesser known encoders.

These make use of encoder libraries. MPC is the only exception.

Of course, it is possible to make a component based on lame_enc.dll, and eliminate the need for temporary WAV files. (I think...)

You'll have to, uh, ask Case.

I really have no need for it as most files I have are mp3 and the wavs I have usually go straight to mpc or ogg format. I'm just supporting Jen since she does make a point that there are separate vorbis and mpc encs but no lame encoder. Most people would just tell her to just use the clienc.

Case, if you're reading this, would you make a lameenc for Jen and others who might want it as well?

[quote=neoufo51,Oct 19 2003, 07:08 AM] You'll have to, uh, ask Case. [/QUOTE]
I really have no need for it as most files I have are mp3 and the wavs I have usually go straight to mpc or ogg format. I'm just supporting Jen since she does make a point that there are separate vorbis and mpc encs but no lame encoder. Most people would just tell her to just use the clienc.

Case, if you're reading this, would you make a lameenc for Jen and others who might want it as well? [/quote]
Thanks for being so nice

To tell you the truth, I also have no need for this plugin, but it would be nice to have it, thats all

So...any chance of a quick and dirty Lameenc?

I suggest two checkboxes next to sliders:

One to enable a slider that selects the various --alt presets including fast and medium.

The second to enable a slider that selects CBR values from 8 to 320.

Be nice to have in case you want a quick and high quality rip using foo_record to record a stream or avi from anything that plays on your PC.

sounds fair

Just one thought: making it that easy to reencode a mp3 in your audioplayer encourages transcoding. Maybe put a warning in bold letters at the top of the dialog box: "WARNING: reencoding a mp3-stream never improves quality, but always decreases it instead!"

- Lyx

EDIT: changed wording

forgive me if i have er .. a little common sense, but isn't it rather obvious that re-encoding a lossy audio stream @ a higher bitrate will have no improvement on audio quality?

It's obvious to you and me, and to most of HA's readers... but not to everybody.

I personally know people who thought (until I explained the issue to them) that converting a 128kbps MP3 to 256kbps would increase the quality. I guess there are a lot more people who think this.

However, I don't think it's a good idea to add this warning specifically for MP3. Remember that this is also an issue for other lossy codecs. So my reasoning would be: if you add the warning to foo_lame, you should also add it to foo_vorbisenc and foo_mpcenc.

Personally, I'd prefer not to see the warning. It all depends foobar2000's audience. If you could make a guess, what percentage of people using foobar2000 don't know transcoding decreases the quality ? If this percentage is low (I think it is), it's probably not a good idea to do this. Also, I'm not sure if it is the task of foobar2000 to educate the user about the negative effects of transcoding.

Thanks a lot Case

In case you've missed it, Case did the plugin, and you can get it here

most transcoding for "increasing quality" is done with the mp3-format. This is because the other formats like ogg, mpc, etc are mostly used by people who are a bit more "educated". Although in the case of ogg, a warning would IMHO also be usefull.

Allowing people to encode the music in their playlist right in foobar is like an invitation for those people. As far as i can see, adding a short notice, doesn't hurt and may help in some cases - if there are any problems and downsides with such a warning - educate me(valid arguments please: not "MPC doesn't do it too, so why should mp3?").

Oh, btw.... just today, again someone asked right here on HA how he could transcode his files using LAME to improve quality.

And, thank you case :-)

- Lyx

Wow, quick work on the lame enc. Have to try it out when I get home. Thanks a lot, Case. You make foobar2000 all the more enjoyable to use.

What an excellent plugin, but a request. Why no --alt-preset medium and fast medium.

also

which version of lame is being used?

The one you have installed (plugin uses lame.exe from PATH).

lame 3.90.3 !!!

Interesting question. That would be good for vinyl rips.

Also, any chance of having both CBR and ABR go down to 24kbps for the really low quality voice recordings?

I have no luck getting the foo_lame plugin to work.
It can not find my lame.exe even though it`s placed in the /Components folder.

I really would like a plugin with the lame libraries included!

It's supposed to be in the /foobar2000 folder. Same for mpcenc.

Anywhere in your PATH will do.

Thanks for the tip, it`s working now!

Nice...

The new Lame Enc 0.1.2. has all my and Jen's requested features. Now its perfect.

Can't thank ya enough, Case.

Can't believe I missed this update. Its excellent !!!

foo_lame is great.

I set it up so I can rip from fb2k and using flatbinary's cdda plugin I manage to get APEv2 tags written to the mp3, but I would like APEv2+ID3v1 written. Is there some setting I'm missing? (By default, I have the proper mode selected in "Tag type to write").

Old version used hard-coded APEv2 tag writing, latest uses settings from standard input config.

Awesome, thanks Case.

can you include that in your installer?

Sure, done.

Hi Case,

I beg you about a additional feature.
I think it would be useful if there would be a window to show the encoder statistics during encoding.

Edit: Clarification

Would you mind adding a option in foo_lamenc to show the commandline-output of lame.exe in a dos-box during encoding?
Like EAC does for external file encoder applications.

I've got a nice little USB v1.1 mp3 stick. And I would like to select a couple of songs, which are mostly mpc or higher quality mp3s, and feed them to foo_lamenc to transcode them directly to the portable. No really, why don't I?

Because it consistently takes up to three times longer to do that than to transcode them somewhere on the disk then move onto the portable. This in fact happens with lame no matter how I use it: as lame.exe, WinLAME, or foo_lamenc, but I'm posting here because I simply don't know who to ask. I was hoping someone - Case, in particular - knows something about this... getting really curious.

Anyone?

(Eep.. nevermind. Misunderstood your problem.)

Well, I guess an imperfect solution would still be better than nothing at all.

@noody:
As I understand your posting:
You are asking for a soluting for creating the mp3 files on a temporary drive and moving the files after encoding to the destination drive?

No, not really; it can be worked around with a script or an intermediate program -- I made both -- but it's inelegant, and I would really like to understand this behavior.

Just made another measurement, for the fun of it: encoding of a song to the hard disk took 32 seconds, to the USB stick 196, copying it takes 13. Don't understand.