LAME MP3 Encoder is the best mp3 encoder and is available for free! LAME originally stood for LAME A in't an M p3 E ncoder. LAME is an educational tool to be used for learning about MP3 encoding.

Download LAME MP3 Encoder

You can use the LAME executable with LameXP or RazorLAME interface or you can use the DLL with another software (AudioGrabber, CDEx etc). Some people prefer the combination CDEx or AudioGrabber + LAME DLL (see CD Ripping / Encoding guide). In archive are included both: exe and DLL files.

Features of LAME MP3 Encoder :

- Many improvements in quality in speed over ISO reference software.
- MPEG1,2 and 2.5 layer III encoding.
- CBR (constant bitrate) and two types of variable bitrate, VBR and ABR.
- Encoding engine can be compiled as a shared library (Linux/UNIX), DLL or ACM codec (Windows).
- Free format encoding and decoding
- GPSYCHO: a GPL'd psycho acoustic and noise shaping model.
- Powerfull and easy to use presets.
- Quality is comparable to FhG encoding engines and substantially better than most other encoders.
- Fast! Encodes faster than real time on a PII 266 at highest quality mode.
- MP3x: a GTK/X-Window MP3 frame analyzer for both .mp3 and unencoded audio files.

LAME MP3 Encoder 3.99 includes :

- lame.exe and lame_enc.dll (ICL10.1)

Changes in LAME MP3 Encoder 3.99 alpha 1:

• Robert Hegemann
- The ignore-tag-errors switch had no effect when embedding album art, fixed.
- Library API change: lame_decode functions are now obsolete but still present, please use hip_decode instead. The reason for this change is: lame_decode functions use a single global variable within the library to store decoder setup, hip_decode functions don't. The encoder now uses hip_decode internally and it is now possible to use clipdetect feature while reencoding mp3 to mp3.
• Rogério Brito
- Improve Debian packaging.
+ Include suggestions made by Fabian Greffrat
+ Update version of the Debian package to reflect that it is taken from CVS.
+ Get rid of a transitional package
+ Much more to come...
- Minor fix to validate the history file correctly

Changes in LAME MP3 Encoder 3.98.2:

• LAME 3.98.2 release is a maintenance release over 3.98.
- build system related: some fixes for mp3rtp and abx tools
- encoder padding values were not correct when resampling was involved
- frequency filtering API was broken; in case you want to use your own higher quality filtering method, it is now possible again to disable LAME buildin filters
- ID3 tagging:
--id3v1-only switch did not work anymore, fixed
--tg improved, now it matches more often one of the ID3v1 genres, even when small spelling errors are involved
--add-id3v2-size is a new switch, it allows to define your own padding of n bytes.
NOTE: Version 3.98.1 contains a bug that will let it crash when encoding CBR/ABR or with old VBR at setting q0, q1 or q2!

Important Note :

- LAME MP3 Encoder 3.90.3 is gone forever! It's no longer being recommended as preferred version - LAME MP3 Encoder 3.98 took its place.