What settings do you recommend for LAME to use for encoding classical music with high quality ?

--alt-preset extreme. Although depending on what type you listen to, strings, brass etc. You may find a different format to your liking. Although I think --alt-preset extreme should do really well. Don't forget to use a reccomended compile like 3.90.2 or 3.91!!

I didn't know 3.91 is recommended...
Use 3.90.2, with it you can't go wrong.

I did mean 3.92. I have found no problems with it and many other people use it as well. It does come reccomended from developers, but 3.90.2 is the ha.org reccomended compile.

--alt-preset standard

Classical music is (in my experience) easier to encode than hard rock or heavy metal type stuff, thus if anything requires even lower bitrates than "usual" for good quality.

Thanks for your replies. To my experience classical music does not encode very well with --alt-preset standard because my feeling by listening these encodings is that they lack high frequencies. I can usually tell the difference between the "standard" and "extreme" settings and so I was wondering whether someone could recommend some special setting for classical music (mainly solo piano or violin).

My main reason for encoding is to port my CDs to an iPod where bitrate is not an issue but it can only play MP3 files so the option of using a better format does not exist. So far, the best results I have obtained is using MMJ 7.5 with the Fraunhofer encoder at Very High Quality, full frequency range and CBR at 320 Kbps.

You have not provided any evidence to prove you can tell the difference between standard and extreme. So....it's useless.

What kind of evidence? Give you my ears?
As I said, I sense a lack of high frequencies.

Was this before or after you looked at the lowpass values?

I have not looked at the lowpass values. Are they different in the two settings? I had the impression that the full frequency range was encoded in both options. What is the case ? Can I manually change this setting for both "standard" and "extreme" options or is it fixed ?

An ABX blind test result, with one of the programs linked in the FAQ. It is necessary in these forums. We get so much people saying they hear this and that, and 80 % of their claims are illogical and not verified by other testers, that we can only take into account the sound problems backuped with positive ABX results. 8 sessions are enough.

The lowpass settings are different, if I'm not mistaken. Extreme must be higher than standard.

Paspro:
Just use
--alt-preset extreme -Z --lowpass 20
should be enough for you in quality and "feeling" -wise , but don't make claims about quality, unless you are willing to prove by blind testing at this high quality level.

Thanks! I will try these settings.

I am sorry if my posting somehow "offended" some people who are probably developing LAME but I was simply asking for some suggestions and not start an encoder-quality war! If my iPod was supporting Ogg Vorbis I would have used this format because my "ears like it most" and I don't have much experience with MP3 encoding options.

Thanks for the help.