[woodytone]

alright im using eac and im using lame as the external mp3 decoder. it works. but i think im missing something. ive been reading alot about "presets" which looks like dos commands or unix commands or something like that. how do i even access that option?

 

[pedxing]

This is the part when I give up and throw in the towl.

Go to EAC's menu and choose EAC->Compression options. Click on the External Compression tab on top. Enter the path where LAME was installed. That tab should have several text entry fields and pull down menus too.

BTW, what happened to EAC's german web page?

 

[blessingx]

Just type:
--alt-preset standard
--alt-preset fast standard
--alt-preset extreme
--alt-preset fast extreme
or
--alt-preset insane
in the "additional command line options". It will override the other selections.

 

[woodytone]

oh i see. thanks

 

[James]

Quote:

Originally posted by pedxing This is the part when I give up and throw in the towl.

Sigh, I know the feeling, but when you're starting out with LAME, command-line settings can be overwhelming, especially for mouse-exclusive computer users. It just depends on the point at which someone gives up and asks for directions.

Does seem a bit lame (not intended) when Googling "lame settings" gets you Hydrogen Audio's pertinent thread on the first hit. Oh well, thank goodness blessingx is more diplomatic.

 

[Thrasher]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx Just type: --alt-preset standard --alt-preset fast standard --alt-preset extreme --alt-preset fast extreme or --alt-preset insane in the "additional command line options". It will override the other selections.

Are you sure it overrides other settings? Doesn't EAC add some additonal switches, because when choosing aps the bitrate goes from 128 - 320 unlike when I encode from standard windows command line when it's from 32 - 320.

EDIT: I just tried --alt-preset standard from windows command line and the bitrate went from 128 - 320. You were right. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[JaZZ]

I didn't manage to start LAME, let alone to have the opportunity to type any command lines... Can it only be used on the basis of EAC?

However, I use RazorLame -- thanks to an advise I received from a Head-Fi member. And I'm absolutely happy with it: you can fine-tune your encoding to an extent I can't imagine to be possible with LAME itself, with its rough setting steps and its obscure settings (at least that's how it appears to me).

So why is it that almost nobody else seems to appreciate the advantages of RazorLame compared to pure LAME? I think the commands are pretty easy, and all is very clear and clearly arranged. You can choose your preferred bitrate -- joint stereo or stereo --, disable or enable VBR (and ABR), define minimum and maximum bitrate, select the quality level (responsible for the preference of low or high bitrates with VBR), use low- and high-pass filters, and so on... I can't imagine rough LAME to have any advantages over RazorLame. Or am I wrong?

 

[James]

Thrasher: My experience is that, as long as you choose "User Defined Encoder" as your "Parameter Passing Scheme," no additional switches are added by EAC to whatever command line you have specified. The files are bit-perfect to files encoded using LAME via a command window.

Jazz: Likely the rapidly waning interest in RazorLame is that LAME has, in the past couple years, finally settled on a simplified switch scheme. The alt-presets are better than all other combinations at their respective bitrates and enables LAME to be easily "pluggable" into all sorts of ripping software and scripts, and so, in a sense, why bother with anything else? Unless, of course, you're mad and are encoding at bitrates lower than 192kbps

.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Quote:

Originally posted by JaZZ So why is it that almost nobody else seems to appreciate the advantages of RazorLame compared to pure LAME? I think the commands are pretty easy, and all is very clear and clearly arranged. You can choose your preferred bitrate -- joint stereo or stereo --, disable or enable VBR (and ABR), define minimum and maximum bitrate, select the quality level (responsible for the preference of low or high bitrates with VBR), use low- and high-pass filters, and so on... I can't imagine rough LAME to have any advantages over RazorLame. Or am I wrong?

Because alt-preset standard is better than any setting you can create in RazorLAME. In LAME options->expert->Custom options, type --alt-preset-standard and check 'only use custom options'. Your ears will thank you

 

[JaZZ]

I'm a bit mad yes

, so for my iHP-395T -- with its capacity of only 500 MB -- I use VBR around 150 kb/s average; I'm very scrimpy here and at the same time don't want obvious compression artifacts. Here's where RazorLame with its fine-tuning possibility is extremely useful. The relatively low bitrates don't harm the sound quality too much with this player because it's not too revealing. Whereas my HD player (Archos Jukebox Recorder 20) is fed with CBR of 256 or 320 kb/s as well as some VBR with average rates between 170 and 260 kb/s. I really like RazorLame's flexibility and transparency (and wouldn't want to be domineered by LAME's presets).

 

[JaZZ]

Joe...

...why is alt-preset standard better than everything I can set with RazorLame? I can select any parameter with RazorLame, so I don't know what you mean. And what's better than CBR 320 kb/s, which I often use?

As menioned above I can't get LAME to run, so haven't the opportunity to try the setting you're proposing...

 

[Joe Bloggs]

The thing is, the LAME presets now are not just presets--they include system level tweaking that is just not possible with any combination of switches. So if a preset is available at around the bitrate you're aiming for, you should always use the preset instead of switches. You could try --alt-preset medium for the bitrate you're aiming for; you can even use --alt-preset abr xxx to get any average bitrate you want, where xxx is the bitrate to aim for.

RazorLAME IS LAME, just with a GUI added. I looked at the RazorLAME GUI and provided specific instructions on how to activate a LAME preset--what could go wrong?

(yes, the instructions in my last post is for RazorLAME--is that what confused you?)

 

[JaZZ]

Joe...

...In my RazorLame version (1.1.5) presets aren't even mentioned, so I still don't know what you're talking about. There are sort of presets available, such as «phones», «studio», «archival quality»..., but they're surely not what you mean. Of course I know that RazorLame is just a frontend for LAME, and that's why I use it. But there's still no obvious option to encode based on LAME presets.

I can type e.g. «alt-preset extreme» into the custom-options field, but this doesn't deactivate the existing settings. And there's no way to start without any settings tohave the custom options as exclusive encoding scheme.

Quote:

The thing is, the LAME presets now are not just presets--they include system level tweaking that is just not possible with any combination of switches.

You know, there are a lot of switches (I normally never would use) -- are you sure that none of the possible combinations will create the same (optimal) setting as with any preset? Can you elaborate what special features the LAME presets provide that RazorLame lacks?

 

[Thrasher]

Quote:

Originally posted by JaZZ Joe... ...In my RazorLame version (1.1.5) presets aren't even mentioned, so I still don't know what you're talking about. There are sort of presets available, such as «phones», «studio», «archival quality»..., but they're surely not what you mean. Of course I know that RazorLame is just a frontend for LAME, and that's why I use it. But there's still no obvious option to encode based on LAME presets. I can type e.g. «alt-preset extreme» into the custom-options field, but this doesn't deactivate the existing settings. And there's no way to start without any settings tohave the custom options as exclusive encoding scheme. You know, there are a lot of switches (I normally never would use) -- are you sure that none of the possible combinations will create the same (optimal) setting as with any preset? Can you elaborate what special features the LAME presets provide that RazorLame lacks?

Go to Lame Options, the Expert tab, write down --alt-preset standard in the Customs options and check Only use custom options. That way you will get a Lame mp3 file encoded with the "famous" --alt-preset standard.

 

[Thrasher]

Quote:

Originally posted by James Thrasher: My experience is that, as long as you choose "User Defined Encoder" as your "Parameter Passing Scheme," no additional switches are added by EAC to whatever command line you have specified. The files are bit-perfect to files encoded using LAME via a command window. Jazz: Likely the rapidly waning interest in RazorLame is that LAME has, in the past couple years, finally settled on a simplified switch scheme. The alt-presets are better than all other combinations at their respective bitrates and enables LAME to be easily "pluggable" into all sorts of ripping software and scripts, and so, in a sense, why bother with anything else? Unless, of course, you're mad and are encoding at bitrates lower than 192kbps .

No, something is not right here. I ripped one WAV file with EAC, then encoded from command line with aps. Then I ripped the same song once again and let EAC start Lame and encode it with aps. I disbled writing of ID3 tag, but the file sizes are different!
Command line encoded file: 2 005 184 B
EAC encoded file: 1 924 040 B

What's going on?