Lame 3.88 --------- This is the LAME mp3 encoder v3.88 for OS/2. As usual, no Frame Analyser and no DOS support. I've included SOX, so you can hack around with your wave files before encoding them. I hope to include the frame analyser in the next version, as I've nearly got a working X server ... For more info on LAME itself, have a look at README, or drop by the website at http://www.mp3dev.org/mp3/ Resent tests on http://www.r3mix.net show that Lame 3.80 now beats the old "gold standard", Fraunhofer Mp3Enc 3.1. Lame 3.88 blows 3.80 away :) This package contains two versions of LAME, for OS/2. It also contains three of my own Rexx scripts, that I've had requests for. Feel free to send me updates for these scripts, as they're by no means perfect ... 3.88 has been a long time in the works, and includes big changes both in the encoding and the structure of the program. The latter doesn't effect you as an end user (unless bugs crept in ;), the former means you should see even better quality :) Files ----- LAME.EXE - Standard commandline, usual build (includes libsndfile) LAME-PCM.EXE - Same as LAME.EXE, but without libsndfile. Use this to encode raw pcm files, or to encode data from stdin. SOX.EXE - Latest version of SoX 12.16, with working stdin/stdout for use with LAME and resampling (see sox.txt for info). LAME-BATCH.CMD - Simple batch proccessor for lame, supporting wildcards on source and destination files LAME-REENCODE-BATCH.CMD - As above, only takes mp3s as the input instead of wav's LAME-BATCH2.CMD - Second part of Lame-Batch. Place in same directory CD-ENCODE.CMD - Calls Leech (available from Hobbes), rips a track, then encodes it. Does ID3 tags, file names etc You will need to edit the file to add your own paths to it. By default, encodes in VBR, at about 128kbps Thanks to notlame@my.netvigator.com.tw for his previous work. Installation ------------ First off, you need the emx runtime installed. If you get errors about EMX not being found, then it isn't installed correctly. The EMX runtime can be downloaded from Hobbes, Leo, and most other large os2 archives. Check the documentation that comes with it for how to install it all correctly. With previous versions, you needed the TERM variable set for the VBR histograms. With 3.88, you need it for most display modes to work correctly. So, you need to ensure you have something like the following in your config.sys (or make sure you set them before running lame) SET TERM=os2 SET TERMCAP=d:/emx/etc/termcap.dat Useage ------ You should always use the -h option, as the extra quality is worth the slower encoding. For archive quality, -v -V 1 is currently reccomended For high quality (sounds like CD on most equipment), use either -h -b 160 or -V 2 -b 32 -h Some people suggest VBR, some CBR, some ABR. It might well be worth checking the latest suggestions on http://r3mix.net/ for encoder settings for your specific requirements. Otherwise, use lame --longhelp for all the options, or see USEAGE for some more info on them If you are really interested in the usage etc, please visit the Lame homepage and join the mailing list. This will keep you up to date on the development, and explain some of the experimental switches. The Gubbins ----------- If you try to encode raw pcm files and get noise, try using the -x switch on the commandline to swap byte order. (This applies to both LAME and SoX) The libsndfile 0.0.17 support gives LAME the capability to process the following file types: * Microsoft WAV 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit integer PCM. * Microsoft 32 bit floating point PCM. * Apple/SGI AIFF and AIFC uncompressed 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit integer PCM. * Sun/NeXT AU/SND format (big endian 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit PCM, 8 bit u-law and 8 bit A-law). * Dec AU format (little endian 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit PCM, 8 bit u-law and 8 bit A-law). * Microsoft IMA/DVI ADPCM WAV format (16 bits per sample compressed to 4 bits per sample). * Microsoft ADPCM WAV format (16 bits per sample compressed to 4 bits per sample). * Microsoft 8 bit A-law an u-law formats (16 bits per sample compressed to 8 bits per sample). * RAW header-less PCM files of 8 (signed and unsigned), 16, 24 and 32 bits. The 16, 24 and 32 bit files may be big or little endian byte ordering. * Amiga uncompressed IFF / 8SVX / 16SV PCM files (8 and 16 bit). * Ensoniq PARIS big and little endian, 16 and 24 bit PCM files (.PAF). (please note that while it's able to read these types, LAME is not yet able to encode in all modes by itself, so not everything will work) Useful URL's ------------ ISO dist10 src : ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/MPEG/audio/ Lame for OS2 : http://users.ox.ac.uk/~magd1113/mpeg/ LAME homepage : http://www.sulaco.org/mp3/ libsndfile site : http://www.zip.com.au/~erikd/libsndfile/ EMX 0.9d (Germany) : http://www.leo.org/pub/comp/os/os2/leo/gnu/emx+gcc/ EMX 0.9d (USA) : http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/dev/emx/v0.9d/ Xfree86/OS2 : http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html All GTK & Req'd libs : http://birdy.hpage.net/ RSX DOS Extender : http://www.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de/~rainer/ Audio Comparisons : http://www.r3mix.net Leech Download : ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/mmedia/cd/grabber/leech120.zip Vorbis Homepage : http://www.vorbis.com Xiph Homepage : http://www.xiph.org TIP: It goes a bit faster if the source & destination file are on different physical drives. If you have a RAM drive, that is the best way to go (encode the mp3 to the RAM drive, then move it over afterwards). But make sure you've got enough ram for the ram drive though ... Nick Burch