Re: [TCLUG:23192] MP3s on Debian

[Callum Lerwick <lerwick@tcfreenet.org>]

Andy Zbikowski wrote:
> 
> >From memory nobody has packaged any mp3 encoders for debian. The licensing
> for these software packages might be too restrictive to even shove them in
> non-free.
> 
> You'll probally have to grab biniary or source tarballs of your favorite mp3
> encoder (blade, lame...whatever)

There are only two mp3 encoders worth bothering with. Lame, which is
GPL. And mp3enc, which is commercial binary only. Though a one byte
patch to the demo is available. Ahem.

Mp3enc is the best encoder on the planet, but the tradoff is its also
the slowest. It'll easily take a day to encode a whole CD on my Celeron
333.

Lame is faster than real time. Its quality is excellent, especially in
the latest betas, at least at ~128kbps. Lame sucks at low bitrates
however. I have not tested low bitrates with the latest beta's though...

Blade is just straight dist10 source. It sucks. Read all about it on
Lame's page:

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