Give "--alt-preset voice" a try. Should give you 56kbps/mono ABR according to the docs.


That didn't work... but I think you really meant "--preset voice" (without the "alt"). That did work, but I was not happy with the sound quality. I realize that 56 kbps isn't going to sound like the original CD... but it was just a bit too much of a trade-off of file size vs sound quality.

I finally ended up using "--vbr-new -b 0 -B 96 %s %d" as my EAC parameter line to pass onto Lame.

It gives me sound quality that is different from the original CD, but not objectionably different. If I had to put my finger on it, I would say that my Lame-encoded MP3 with that setting is a bit brighter and clearer in the upper registers, but lacks a bit of richness in the mid-range. I can hear the difference, but would be hard-pressed to pick one over the other as being "better. (Remember--these are audio books; perfect replication of the original "sound" is much less important than with music!)

Amazingly enough, my average bitrate and filesizes are coming out slightly smaller (about 5%) than with the "--preset voice" setting.

I blush to admit it, but since my audiobook CDs are in perfect condition, having only ever been out of their cases one time before, I have turned off the error checking (for the audiobooks only) and am getting some screaming-fast rips, and the low bitrate encoding seems to run very quickly as well.

tanstaafl.