I have made a policy now of always using the --strictly-enforce-ISO switch.
I have been using Lame 3961
A typical command I use is:

lame.exe -b 192 --cbr --strictly-enforce-ISO -q1 "C:\asblah\tune01.wav" "c:\asblah\tune01.mp3"

I'm just an ordinary user that likes decent quality and to be safe. However, I have started to advise other people on a BB on doing some audio encoding and editing, and have also given them a link to the rarewares site and here.

Given that I use the --strictly-enforce-ISO switch as above, what is the recommended Lame version then? Say for the purposes of recommending and advising other people and they want their mp3s to play on anything that is compliant with mp3 standards - but of course want the quality to be nice. Am I okay with Lame 3961 stable?

I have stuck to CBR @ 192 for this reasons, and used q1. The encodes sound good to me, but I wander if I might encounter proplems somewhere or they might. I just didn't want to advise them to use an older version when so many fixes and improvement have been made in the few years, unless it's for the better some how

Thanks as always for any advice.

A player unable to handle VBR is not compliant with the mp3 standard. VBR will play on anything that is compliant with the mp3 standard.

Callmeace, you've been here for a while, not many posts, but a longer member (oooerr) than me. So, surely you've seen this post, and this thread might help you, and this thread. It goes on. Do some searching my friend.

Of course, I don't actually know when the '--strictly-enforce-ISO' switch came in - so I don't know if 3.90.3 supports it.

You'll also notice not much mention of the aformentioned switch - I've never heard of it and I guess not many use it. Also, most LAME users will also use a preset like 'standard' or a 'V' setting (see here for my current choice) that will make it VBR.

Why did you decide to make a policy of always using that switch? Do you understand all of the ramifications of using it? If so, please enlighten me.

it activates the bits/frame limitation that was removed from lame during the ISO code cleanup.

you wouldn't use this for high bitrates...

[edit: or for anything else besides broken hardware compatibility]


later

Thanks for your replies

I didn't understand - and still don't fully - what the switch does, but it seemed to be helping to keep to the standards (which is what I believe the ISO stands for) and didn't seem to my ears to have harmed the quality, so I decided to make a policy of using it. It seems best to stick to the standards if quality is not harmed very much right?
I used CBR as I had read that some players hadn't supported VBR, which is why I was using CBR although I know this isn't ideal for efficiently getting the best sound for the file-size.

I just wanted the advice of you top guys because of myself helping and wanting to advise some other people, so I appreciate anything you tell me! I do read up on this board but it's such a lot to try and keep track of. I had just wandered, for quality and standards compliance (and general compliance) if I was doing as best as I could with my combination of Lame build and switches - for the bitrate I have decided to go for, as always I do appreciate the time and your work, thanks guys.

Can someone please tell me how to use LAME. As soon as I start the .exe it wil auto-close.

If you're running Windows, open a command prompt box. The detail of what LAME will accept is on this page:

http://lame.sourceforge.net/doc/html/switchs.html

Recommended switches are here:

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=28124

--
Baxter

Check this out.
Maybe this and/or this as well...

Stupid question, but I was using EAC with LAME... the old recommened version (I *think* it was 3.90 maybe?). I have recently formatted my computer and want to use EAC with LAME again... what LAME files do I need to use with EAC now? I can't seem to figure it out... I'm a n00b at this stuff.

Thanks in advance!

-Keith

If you plan on using EAC and Lame, just go to http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html and download the "Bundle: includes lame.exe, lame_enc.dll (ICL4.5) and lameACM.acm (ICL9.0)" It is the first download for the Lame 3.97b1 options. Open the zipped file and extract the Lame.exe file to a known location. I recomend extracting it to the same folder where EAC is located. That is the only Lame file you need to work with EAC.

Thanks!