iTunes-LAME: LAME MP3 encoder for OS X (intel)
Get iTunes-LAME for intel OS X
iTunes is a great app on the Mac, with one heavy caveat: its MP3 encoder produces poor quality MP3s.
Lame is a phenomenal, state of the art encoder, but it is a command-line UNIX app for the true audiophile geek.
iTunes-LAME bridges the gap between iTune’s ease of use, and LAME’s phenomenal audio quality. It is a fantastic piece of free software from the creator of Quicksilver (also rad, also free), available from Blacktree.com. The catch is, Alcor now encodes his music as AAC, and has let iTL languish. It still works fine, but is compiled for PPC processors, not Intel ones like in new Macs.
I’ve compiled the source code for Intel Macs, out of desperation for LAME’s quality, in iTunes, running at native speeds.
To install, put the unzipped file into ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts/, then restart iTunes. A new script menu item appears, which will launch iTL, and allow you to import songs on CD at very respectable speeds with impeccable quality.
Update: With recent iTunes versions, the script menu no longer appears. You can launch iTunes-lame manually by double-clicking it, however, and highlight the tracks you want to import in iTunes 7.2+
Learn about iTL, and discuss it, on the Blacktree forums.
