What’s LAME?

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LAME is a freeware application used to convert large uncompressed audio files into smaller MP3 files for portable audio players. LAME has a long-standing reputation within the audiophile community as arguably the best program for creating MP3 files. The name comes from the obsolete recursive acronym LAME Ain’t an MP3 Encoder, referring to the initial versions of the program that required complementary encoders. Today LAME is a stand-alone encoder and decoder.

LAME is very useful for converting CDs or disc collections to high quality MP3 files for greater portability. When songs are ripped from an album or CD, the output is usually a wave (.wav) file. Wave files have the advantage of sounding 100% identical to the original source while preserving all the nuances of the sonic environment. The downside to a wave file is that storing all that data requires a lot of memory, about 10 megabytes (MB) per minute of song.

An encoder like LAME reads the uncompressed audio file (in this case a wave file) and uses different algorithms to reproduce the sound environment as faithfully as possible, reducing the bits needed to store the information. The encoder first eliminates sounds thought to be inaudible to the human ear, then applies various other filters to compress the music. LAME allows the user to configure many of these settings.

For example, one of the most important settings is the sample rate, which is the number of times per second the program samples the original music to “map” a replica of the sonic environment. In general, the more times per second the program samples the music, the more nuanced the map and the better the quality of the MP3 file. The fewer times you sample the original, the more it “cramps the map” which reduces quality. That said, oversampling won’t add much to the result as it will add to the file size. LAME allows the user to choose the sample rate to balance quality with file size.

There are also various other options including the type of stereo mode, using high pass and low pass filters, general quality settings, and more. For the beginner many of these can be left at their defaults, allowing the program to choose.

With the correct settings and sample rate chosen, LAME will create an excellent quality MP3 file from the original wave. Although the MP3 format is a compressed format that uses lossy technology, the resulting file should sound very close to the original. A non-audiophile may not be able to tell the difference on a portable player. The difference between lossy files and uncompressed (wave) files is most apparent on high-quality stereo equipment such as your home stereo or entertainment center.
A potential disadvantage of LAME is that it is a command line program which requires the user to access a DOS command prompt to enter commands. Switches on the command line set preferences such as bit rate and so on. While seasoned DOS or UNIX enthusiasts might find this simplistic retro technology clean and fun, it’s probably safe to say that most people prefer menus and a point-and-click interface. Fortunately, there are many graphical front-end programs you can use with LAME so you don’t have to operate through the command line. One of the most popular is RazerLAME, which is also free.
LAME and RazerLAME can be found with any search engine. Since LAME works via the command line, it is a very small program and does not make entries in the Windows registry. Just download it and unzip it in your own directory or folder. With that done, unzip RazerLAME (or your favorite graphical front-end program) into its directory. Launch RazerLAME and configure it to know where to find LAME.exe.
A graphical front-end makes it easy to set preferences for LAME. Just click through the menus to choose your desired bit rate, stereo mode, and so on. Drag the audio files into the RazerLAME window and choose to start the encoding process. The graphical interface sends the instructions to LAME, which will generate the MP3 files in a short time.

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