LAME ain't an MP3 Encoder
Reader Jack wrote in the comments to How We Made Our Podcasts with a bit of information that I wanted to promote to the main page, because of its usefulness.
Basically, he points out that rather than using iTunes' somewhat limited MP3-encoding capabilities for compressing our podcasts, we should install grab a copy of Thalictrum's pre-packaged OS X installer for LAME. LAME is "now an highly evolved MP3 encoder, with quality and speed able to rival state of the art commercial encoders."
After installing LAME, we then need to grab iTunes-LAME from BlackTree, the people behind Quicksilver.
After installing LAME and iTunes-LAME, you can then simply launch iTunes, got to the Script Menu, and click on the "Import with LAME..." script. As Jack notes, "A floating window will open up that will allow you to set LAME settings and run it simply in a way that will import the MP3s into iTunes seamlessly....
Check after the jump for more detailed information from Jack on using LAME...
Thanks, Jack!
Jack: "The process is easy:
1) Create a playlist for the MP3s you want to convert.
2) Drop the files you want to convert into the playlist.
3) With the playlist selected launch 'iTunes-Lame'.
4) Choose the preset settings or enter your own.
5) Hit the 'Import' button and wait.
Depending on CPU speed, the process can be longer than standard iTunes imports. But once you see the smaller size of your files and listen to the quality of the MP3, you will never turn back.
And here are the two custom LAME settings I use regularly.
Small But Great Sounding Stereo MP3s:
–lowpass 19.7 -V3 –vbr-new -q0 -b96 –scale 0.99 –athaa-sensitivity 1
I use this all the time for CD importing or MP3 conversion. The space saved is amazing and I can't tell the difference between this tweaked VBR setting and other higher bitrate VBR imports.
Small Mono Files for Radio:
–resample 8 -V3 –vbr-new -q0 -B16 –lowpass 15.4 –athaa-sensitivity 1
I have a nice sized collection of old-time radio shows I have encoded and reencoded using this setting. Perfect for old AM radio shows. Or a smaller sized version of a radio show you might want to post for people who are not particular about having it in stereo. There is defintely a loss of high-end with this setting, but there is little to no distortion and unless you have heard the original, you will barely know the difference with this setting in many cases. Great for mono radio shows or old-time shows."