Sorry, I have some questions although I've been reading through the forums the last days. lame development is so confusing, I have never seen anything similar anywhere else.

• The only recomended (VBR) presets (for ALL versions except lame.exe 3.90.3) are
  
  --alt-preset extreme -Z %s %d
  --alt-preset standard -Z %s %d
  
  Is that correct?
  
  
• Some say --alt-preset standard -Z -Y is even better.
  
  
• The only versions which are recomended to use are lame 3.90.2 or lame 3.90.3 (and sometimes lame 3.92).
  
  
• 3.94, 3.91, 3.93 and 3.93.1 should not be used. Is that right?
  
  
• Where can I download lame 3.90.3? The link on Rare Wares doesn't work!

Maybe someone can answer my questions (with yes/no).

The 3.90.3 link is working fine...sure you're linked to here?

http://rarewares.hydrogenaudio.org/mp3.php

Yes, 3.90.2 or 3 is excellent, and the VBR presets are correct.

3.93.1 is good if you're interested in lower bitrates and the --alt preset standard medium.

Also, if you're interested, check out the new 4.0 alpha 6, its not for archiving just yet, but it could very well be the next replacement for 3.90.2 in its soon to be 4.0X versions. The encoding speed is really quite improved.

see recommended lame settings

to sum up lame 3.90.2 is still the recommended version. use --alt-preset standard -Z

use --alt-preset standard -Z -Y to lower the bitrate

3.94, 3.91, 3.93 and 3.93.1 should not be used.

rarewares should be working i hope.

No, quality-wise -Y is worse. Almost all content >16 KHz is disregarded.

4.X and 3.94 should not be used now because they are still under development.
3.93 should not be used, as there was a quality problem in it, this was solved in 3.93.1

Thanks to all for answering!



Okay, now it works. I had to turn off my download manager. Btw, right click and "save target.." didn't work either (Phoenix and IE).