hi. years ago i used itunes-lame to encode with lame but when i upgraded my os operating system it stopped working. is there software that is pretty easy to use with lame 3.98.2? or should someone like me, with a limited understanding of code, stick with itunes-lame which, as far as i can tell still only uses 3.97? thanks

Try Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and get lame 3.98.2 from RareWares.

Get the latest LAME bundle here (3.98.2)
Then, follow the wiki for EAC + LAME
Forget about --vbr-new since it's by default in 3.98.2

Same discussion here

EDIT: added discussion link

Guys, do you realize that iTunes-lame is a Mac OSX software?

I don't have experience with OSX, but maybe this could help you:

http://karaoke.kjams.com/wiki/index.php/Lame

The best ripper/encoder for Mac OS is XLD: http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html It uses the latest Lame encoder.

Have a look at this thread: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....c=65534&hl=

Many people seem to get 3.98.x going with this, but as you can see from my bleats, my files come up commented as encoded with v.3.97, and I don't know enough to tell whether this is merely a clerical error (version number hard-coded in the script or summat), or a sign of something really wrong.

I used to use Max, by sbooth, which kept me happy and has a good rep. as a Mac ripper and file fiddler. My only reason for changing was that the metadata look-up in iTunes is better; I was ripping with Max, then importing into iTunes and doing some tagging by hand.

Although I'm sure 3.98.2 is an improvement, the comments made suggest it is incremental, rather than any kind of step-change. Certainly no-one's saying we should go and re-rip our CDs to get rid of our crusty old 3.97 files.

HTH