as said in my other posts, i've need of using mp3s at bitrates of 128kbps cbr.
I have encoders listed below

1. Fraunhofer mp3enc31 (encspot recognize - mp3enc or fastenc)
2. Fraunhofer fastenc (encspot - fastenc,lowq q/fastenc mid to high q)
3. Fraunhofer mp3enc3.1.1 lirbary/alt codec (MMJB v7.0.0.149) (encspot - mp3enc or fastenc)
4. Nero 6 (fastenc, low quality version - as rec. by encspot. and at high q cutoff is 14.5khz, so a bug)
5. Audioactive Production Studio 2.0.4j (ACM or producer pro)
6. Lame 3.90.3
7. Lame 3.96.1
8. Lame 3.97a

So, can u suggest best encoder at these bitrates?I would appreciate impartial answer (i.e. if lame is not the best of 8 at mentioned c.b.r. one would not recommend.)

I have read ff123's notes about using fastencc -hq. but it becomes very slow. (it's not that speed is important. but atleast it shouldn't be impractically slow.)

awaiting for your answers

At this bitrate, you could easily do listening tests and decide for yourself which codec you like best. There has also been a public listening test which features some of the encoders, see here:
http://www.rjamorim.com/test/mp3-128/presentation.html
http://www.rjamorim.com/test/mp3-128/results.html
Personally, I'd go for either Lame 3.97a11 or 3.90.3
Do you really need CBR or would ABR (=better quality) also be OK?

i would only recommend lame 3.90.3 for vbr APS/APE modes - for cbr <160 i'd go with latest stable lame


later

I'd use Lame 3.96.1 with --alt-preset standard -b 128 for cbr 128 files. And from what I've heard, the new lame alphas should also work well for what you are looking for.
J

That is VBR with minimal bitrate 128 kbps.

I'd suggest lame --alt-preset cbr 128

What he said...