I use wavelab 6 with lame encoder to encode my MP3 320,

can you recommend a better tool for the best quality?

any advice is welcome

 

it doesn't depend on DAW, editor. Depends on dll-codecs.
Download the latest lame (lame3.99.5) for better results. I think better is only a new mp3HD format (lossless mp3, but higher-than-320-kbps bitrates have been developing (or maybe already not) for players support). But the latest lame is the best I think and a lot of people agree with me.
Download it and place it to the folder of your DAW/editor which supports it (e.g. REAPER). Or maybe high-quality bit-in-bit Audio Converters with built-in lame-codec (latest version) - EZ CD Audio Converter 2.2 and higher, dbPoweramp 15.1 or higher. etc.

 

If you ask 10 people here, maybe you will get 10 different answers. I think this is a very personal choice, but I'm using EZ CD Audio Converter (now, v2.2.2) with no regrets.

 

transporter1333
yes, but audiotests, spectral analysers show you everything - which is better, more highs etc.

 

thanks for advices,

I'll give a try to EZ CD Audio Converter, can it convert directly from a wav file? or just from CDs?

some freeware programs hide lots of BS, ads, spyware etc etc

hope EZ CD Audio Converter is free of this garbage.

if there is something good from the open source community that could be really appreciated.

 

EZ CD Audio Converter does from one format to another one, rips CD to any format.

 

AIMP3: give it a chance.

 

dBPoweramp can also do free-form mp3 (like, 640kbps...). It will probably have issues with hardware players but you can try it I guess - especially if it's for personal use.

 

Do you play your MP3's using software (PC) or hardware (DAP) ?

The only hardware DAP's capable of hi-rez (>320Kbps) MP3 decode are probably your expen$ive top-end devices.
A lot of DAP's can have their firmware hacked "Jailbroken" and replaced with the popular Rockbox:
rockbox.org
forums.rockbox.org

Also ask questions at:
head-fi.org

Why not skip MP3 and use FLAC... 24bit-96Kbps ?

 

hello, audiosexers,

the most important thing is which one is the codec with the better sounding results...

having tested nearly all of the above mentioned programs (plus some others not included) with all the possible codecs, for my preferences, also for the stuff converted with it, the codec made by fraunhofer inc. is the clear winner (in nearly every case)... *yes*
at the second place (also the occasional but rare winner) is the one called lame, newest version... *yes*

this thing is, as nearly all our preferences are, perhaps, the most personal... *yes*

all the best for all of us (including the best sounding codecs, of course)...

later edit, post scriptum, for my preferences, workflow, etc. the most conveniently usable thing became the sonnox pro(fessional) codec, the codec toolbox, even if their licensing method is as it is, even if these are not exactly open source...

 

I forget to mention the great audio related forum - HydrogenAudio:
http://www.hydrogenaud.io/

This is old but a good referece:
http://lame.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/lame/lame/USAGE

 

I use wavelab 8 and bought the fraunhofer Mp3 codec. This I think might give a better quality conversion than the lame mp3 codec. It seems to save audio without losing sound quality when saving files previously loaded as wave format. This I think might be available for wavelab 6, but will cost you money and should be available as an add on via you Elicenser.

 

why not convert it to Itunes plus?to my ears the AAC sound pretty close to flac/ape,i dont convert my cds to mp3 anymore,i use flac,wav or aac.

 

As others said, its not the software but the codec and how you set up the codec.

Best guide i have ever come across for high quality mp3 is here: http://www.xpfree.org/highest_quality_mp3_encoding_guide.htm

Its worth reading the whole thing, here is the summary:

So for a high-quality MP3, we want 320kbps, or as close to it as possible - we want CBR encoding - and we want no lowpass or highpass filtering on the signal. Bug in the ointment, Lame removed the ability to disable lowpass filtering (-k flag) on CBR encodes at version 3.99 - and, although you can change the highest frequency in the lowpass filter, you can't increase it above 20khz. However, they also made CBR and VBR encoding algorithms identical at that point, and the -V0 level of VBR encoding (highest quality level of VBR) disables lowpass frequency filtering. You thinking what I'm thinking? That's right, we're going to use a VBR mode to encode in CBR. On the command line, the syntax looks like this:
lame -q 0 -b 320 -B 320 -Y -V 0 [input filename] [output filename]

 

hello, nightwalker,

perhaps the original poster wants to use mp3 files (as the question in the topic put)...

hello, lerkjurk,

thanks for pointing to the link, really great content...

all the best for all of us...

later edit, post scriptum (again), there was, in the times of all those great radium releases, one certain fraunhofer inc. codec (optimised even plus certainly freed from every possible restriction), perhaps it is worth one search in the archives of the great world wide web... *yes*