LAME MP3 Audio Encoder

LAME (LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder) is a high-quality free and open-source MP3 audio encoder, widely regarded as the reference implementation for MP3 encoding quality. Originally developed as a patch against the ISO reference source code in 1998 by Mike Cheng, LAME evolved into an independent project and has been maintained by a team including Mark Taylor, Robert Hegemann, Gabriel Bouvigne, and Takehiro Tominaga. Key features: high-quality MP3 encoding utilizing psychoacoustic models to achieve transparent audio quality at low bitrates, consistently outperforming commercial encoders in blind listening tests. Constant Bitrate (CBR) encoding at standard bitrates from 8 kbps to 320 kbps for predictable file sizes. Variable Bitrate (VBR) encoding for optimal quality-to-size ratio, with multiple VBR quality presets (V0-V9) and new VBR modes (VBR-new, VBR-fast). Average Bitrate (ABR) encoding as a compromise between CBR and VBR for target average bitrate with variable frame allocation. Joint stereo encoding for efficient stereo encoding by exploiting inter-channel correlation. MPEG-1 Layer III for 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, and 32 kHz sampling rates. MPEG-2 Layer III for 22.05 kHz, 24 kHz, and 16 kHz sampling rates for lower-quality encoding. ReplayGain calculation for volume normalization across tracks. Gapless playback encoding with accurate frame padding and LAME tag header. ID3v1 and ID3v2 tag reading and writing. Free-format MP3 support for arbitrary bitrates above 320 kbps. Command-line interface and shared library (libmp3lame) for integration into other applications. Cross-platform on Windows, macOS, Linux, and embedded systems. Used by Audacity, FFmpeg, HandBrake, and thousands of audio applications. Open source under LGPL.