I beleive Fraunhofer was optimized for low bit-rates (ie web radio, audio books, etc.) and is apparently very good at it. Lame is optimized for high bit rates (192kbs and above) and is also very good at it. For anyone who appreciates a quality digital recording and has enough disk space you should really consider using a high bit rate and a quality encoder despite the speed disadvantages. I ripped and encoded about 11Gigs of mp3s using Xing at 128 before I realized that speed wasn't everything. Some of the songs sounded like crap. I did a little research and some of my own comparisons and decided to just rip everything at 320kbs CBR stereo and by bigger hard drives. You may not need it all, but sure enough the one crappy encoded section will surface in your favorite song, at your favorite part and ruin all your hard work. Here's a link that might be of interest.