Okay, so I have an Ipod and I'm considering switching from AAC to MP3 for compatibility reasons. And I want good quality in case I get a better system, ears, etc. So I want 192 VBR LAME MP3. But, I've heard horror stories about LAME VBR files confusing the Ipod's little mind and making it cut songs off several seconds too early. So I want MP3s but am not sure about LAME. Is there an encoder close to LAME for mp3?

I think you should try to encode some tracks to see if the skipping issue affects you. From what I understand , It is not that common. You may also you average bitrate (--abr) 150k or more and you will get high quality files with a predictable bitrate. I would still use LAME for this if you want the highest quality mp3.

Wouldn't encoding with LAME.exe using --strictly-enforce-iso solve the issue with some iPod's?

What kind of iPod? If it's a 5g, you're fine.

the latest firmware upgrade fixes it.

Hmmm. I just tested this and its still happening with large VBR encoded files. If you scrub to the end of a long track it just cuts off the end.

If you allow for a bit larger files everything is fine using CBR.

CBR (and ABR) is discredited a bit nowadays cause everbody thinks VBR is the way to go. But even CBR allows for a variation of audio data bit rate though in a restricted sense. The higher you go in bitrate the less are the potential advantages of VBR significant and the more relevant are the potential disadvantages of VBR (wrong bitrate decisions).

So if you use 224 kbps CBR, or - better - 256 kbps CBR, you'll get excellent quality even for many tracks that are hard to encode. Of course best is 320 kbps CBR, but IMO it's not worth it.

You should care a bit about which Lame version to use. IMO 3.98 has a better quality than 3.97 though in alpha state. At least 3.98 development and feedback is very much worth keeping an eye on.
If you don't care using an older Lame version I can recommend 3.90.3 or 3.91 when using very high bitrate CBR (or ABR). In this usage field still best quality to me up to now.

Are you sure you aren't talking about the "stuttering" LAME VBR issue? For nano, that was fixed in 1.2 of the firmware. This is a different issue entirely... (and I thought iTunes was more of a concern than iPod itself)

Sorry, yes.

Stick Rockbox on it and you'll be sorted

Why would someone put Rockbox on their iPod when it gives them horrible battery life and sluggish UI?

So they can actually play MP3s properly?

(Also, sluggish UI?)

I'm very content with Nero AAC at Q 0.4. Works great, sounds great, fits a lot on your iPod (especially if you've got a Mini (me) or a Nano)

Anddddd to play Vorbis too!