Usage of the commandline encoder

## Common and recommended switches

### Common settings

    % lame [options] inputfile [outputfile]

- Constant Bitrate: -b number or --preset cbr number Valid values for the -b settings depend on the sampling rate1.

      lame -b 128 sample.wav sample.mp3

- Variable Bitrate (ABR mode): --abr number or --preset number Valid values for the --abr setting range from 8 to 320.

      lame --abr 128 sample.wav sample.mp3

- Variable Bitrate (VBR mode): -V number Valid values are from 0 to 9, with decimal values possible, where 0 is the highest quality while 9.999 is the lowest one.

      lame -V2 sample.wav sample.mp3

### Hydrogenaudio recommended settings

- Best quality, "archiving"2 : -b 320

  CBR 320 is the strongest setting for MP3, with the lowest risk of artifacts. With the exception of a few situations, quality is rarely better than the highest VBR profiles described below.

- High quality, HiFi, home or quiet listening : -V0 (avg. 245 kbps) or -V1 (avg. 225 kbps) or -V2 (avg. 190 kbps) or -V3 (avg. 175 kbps).

  These settings are considered to produce transparent encoding (transparent = most people can't distinguish the MP3 from the original in an ABX blind test). Audible differences between these presets exist, but are rare.

- Portable, background noise and low bitrate requirement, small sizes : -V4 (avg. 160 kbps) or -V5 (avg. 130 kbps) or -V6 (avg. 115 kbps)

  -V6 produces an "acceptable" quality, while -V4 should be close to perceptual transparency.

- Very low bitrate, small sizes, eg. for voice, radio, mono encoding : --abr 80 (stereo) or --abr 56 -m m (mono)

  For very low bitrates, up to 100kbps, ABR is most often the best solution.

1. Codec | sample frequencies (kHz) | bitrates (kbps)
   --- | --- | ---
   MPEG-1 layer III | 32, 44.1, 48 | 32 40 48 56 64 80 96 112 128 160 192 224 256 320
   MPEG-2 layer III | 16, 22.05, 24 | 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 80 96 112 128 144 160
   MPEG-2.5 layer III | 8, 11.025, 12 | 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64

2. Lossy codecs, like MP3, should not be used for archiving, since the nature of lossy encoding always changes the original sound, even if it sounds transparent. Use lossless codecs for this purpose.