First question: if I select V2 in Foobar, is that "--alt preset standard" automatically, or do I have to put that into the command line in order to make it an aps rip?

I am a member of a private music tracker, and you can only upload rips there that are <192 if its ripped aps. When I check my Foobar V2 rips in Mr. Questionman, it doesn't list it as "--alt preset standard" the way APS rips usually do, and I was under the impression that V2 = aps. They also don't show up as aps when I enter "--alt preset standard" into the command line.

I managed to track down only one useful tutorial through google, and it was about six years old. It was for aps ripping with EAC, and it provided everything to download. I followed everything in the tutorial, downloaded everything, and then ripped a few cds. I looked them over in Mr. Questionman, and this time I did see "alt preset standard -b192" listed. Only problem is that the average bitrate on every cd I ripped is like 130-150, which is a little low, right?

Also, EAC doesnt allow me to chose VBR higher than 192. So everything I rip with these programs are <192, with ones on foobar never appearing as aps (although the bitrates w/ foobar are usually higher than EAC)?

So how can I manage to get an aps rip thats at least between 170-190 w/ EAC? And how do I get foobar to rip aps? Or is aps = V2, and there's an error with how Mr. Questionman reads it? Are there any good, somewhat-current tutorials that google isn't finding for me? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

The lame preset that comes with foobar is indeed V2 (what APS was renamed to). You can verify that in foobar's preferences under "Converter".

Hi David, welcome to Hydrogenaudio on All Saints' Day.
There is a pretty updated wiki on LAME mp3 encoding, you should be able to find some satisfactory answers in it. Do explore around.

Yes. In fact, if you're using the slider, it's as easy as dragging the slider around if all you want are the preset encodes.

The -b192 there is an anomaly. It appears to restrict the encoder from doing as it can within the constraints of aps, and that will eventually make the encodes sub-optimal (quality vs file-size). In general, rock and metal encodes cause LAME to choose higher bitrates in the 170-210 range. If the music you're encoding is classical instrumental, 130-150 is definitely alright. The idea behind aps is a target quality regardless of bitrate. The encoder will do whatever it can to achieve that quality, barring special cases that can trip it up. If it finds that a lower bitrate is more than sufficient for that quality, then be happy that you've saved some HDD space.

This is out of my league, sorry. Did the guide tell you to use 'External Compressor'? Try the Hydrogenaudio guide instead.

By forcing aps to fit within a bitrate range, ironically, you will not be getting aps mp3s any more.

aps IS V2. Use the latest version of LAME too (3.98), if your private music tracker isn't anal about it.

Is this an illegal file sharing group?