QUOTE(Andavari @ Aug 22 2006, 00:48)

If you're not sure how to configure LAME in EAC
view this thread.
Edit:
I really need to read better you stated "with the exception of EAC". You can pretty much use what's listed in the EAC configuration with other programs however the input file parameter %s and the destination file parameter %d may be different, for instance in CDex it could look like this:
-V 2 --vbrnew %1 %2
Thanks for the reply... I think I may have been wrongly blaming lame. If I take the vbr mp3s and strip the tags and recreate them in another program, all is well. This narrows it down a bit...