Advanced Ripping With Audiograbber Topics

Lame_enc.dll and the Lame presets

At present Audiograbber 1.83 cannot utilise the presets (which have been tuned for quality) within lame_enc.dll unlike for those who use lame.exe. As explained in the Beginners Guide to ripping those who select lame as an internal encoder have a selection of variable bitrate (vbr) or constant bitrate (cbr) options to choose from. This is a shame as the presets will give you the best sounding files. However there are two ways you can use the presets and lame as an internal encoder.

There is a test version of Audiograbber 1.83 availble via the Audiograbber forums but it is hidden away in the threads. This has been modified to allow the presets to be used. This is done by editing the MP3QualityMode in audiograbber.ini - examples are:

MP3QualityMode=R3MIX
MP3QualityMode=VERYHIGH
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETSTANDARD
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETSTANDARDFAST
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETEXTREME
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETEXTREMEFAST
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETINSANE
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETABR
MP3QualityMode=ALTPRESETCBR

Hopefully in future versions of Audiograbber the editing of the ini file will be replaced by a dropbox with settings.

Click here to download the AG test version (alternative download site)

Special Versions of lame_enc.dll available on Rarewares

The second way to use the presets is to download the modified versions of lame_enc.dll from Rarewares. These allow the presets to be modified by an ini file. They are designed for use with applications that use the dll but do not provide full preset support such as Audiograbber. This means you can select the preset via the ini file which overides any of the settings previously selected in Audiograbber! These come in versions for the Hydrogen Audio recommended 3.90.3 version as well as the latest lame, 3.96. Well recommended!

A Comparable APS Setting with lame_enc.dll version 3.96

As stated above you cannot use the presets in lame_enc.dll and Audiograbber at present. The options you get when selecting lame_enc.dll are variable bitrate (which includes average bitrate) or constant bitrate.

However in version 3.96 of lame you can now use select options which are equal to preset standard (or alt preset standard).

To get this setting when selecting lame_enc.dll as an internal encoder (under MP3 settings) do the following:

• Select variable bitrate
• Select old
• On the low to high quality slider move it to vbr 2
• Choose Joint Stereo

This will give you a setting equal to preset standard but remember to choose version 3.96.

Note: Using V2, joint stereo and the "new" or "MTRH" methods are equivalent to --alt-preset fast standard.

Here is a link to a thread on Hydrogen Audio discussing the above.

To understand more about the presets visit the Hydrogen Audio Recommended Settings page.