Also, LAME 3.90 stable was just recently released. Here are the suggested VBR settings from www.hydrogenaudio.org:
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Highest Quality (Slower):
--alt-preset extreme
(bitrates 220-270 kbit/s -- usually averages around 256kbps)

Faster (Very Slightly Lower Quality):
--alt-preset fast extreme
(bitrates roughly the same as above)

High Quality (Slower):
--alt-preset standard
(bitrates 180-220 kbit/s -- usually averages around 192 kbps)

Faster (Very Slightly Lower Quality):
--alt-preset fast standard
(bitrates roughly the same as above)

I use the latter and it works great!

Bob