Encoding

4.1 Recommended Software

Windows

LAME

http://www.mp3dev.org/mp3/

The only reason Polyphony exists is because of LAME. It's arguably the best encoder available, commercial or otherwise, and it's totally free. LAME is just a DLL & simple command line executable, and a bunch of docs. There are many fancy front-ends around that use LAME, so take your pick. I encode on Windows, and use RazorLame (the Section called RazorLame) as a front-end.

To get the best results when using LAME, be sure to use the --r3mix command line switch. This sets a bunch of options according to the research done by the people at http://r3mix.net/. Supposedly MP3s encoded this way are not detectable vs. the original CD in double blind listening tests (whereas 128 kbs MP3s were detected over 90% of the time).

RazorLame

http://www.dors.de/razorlame/index.php

No longer in development apparently, but I've been using version 1.1.5 with great success. Simple interface and a bunch of easy presets, including "Archival Quality VBR" which just passes --r3mix to LAME.

Linux

Use LAME (the Section called LAME) on Linux as well as Windows. jack (the Section called Linux) can handle the queuing up of everything.