Basic command line switch reference

Only the most usual switches are described here. However those should be sufficient for the vast majority of users.

switch	parameter
`--abr`	average bitrate encoding
`-b`	bitrate (8...320)
`--decode`	decoding only
`-f`	fast mode
`-h`	high quality
`--help`	help
`-m`	stereo mode (s, j, f, m)
`-V`	VBR quality setting (0...9)

* --abr n average bitrate encoding

Turns on encoding with a targeted average bitrate of n kbits, allowing to use frames of different sizes. The allowed range of n is 4-310, you can use any integer value within that range.

* -b n bitrate

For MPEG1 (sampling frequencies of 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz)
n = 32,40,48,56,64,80,96,112,128,160,192,224,256,320

For MPEG2 (sampling frequencies of 16, 22.05 and 24 kHz)
n = 8,16,24,32,40,48,56,64,80,96,112,128,144,160

Default is 128 kbs for MPEG1 and 80 kbs for MPEG2.

* --decode decoding only

Uses LAME for decoding to a wav file. The input file can be any input type supported by encoding, including layer I,II,III (MP3).

* -f fast mode

This switch forces the encoder to use a faster encoding mode, but with a lower quality.

* -h high quality

Use some quality improvements. Encoding will be slower, but the result will be of higher quality.
This switch is always enabled when using VBR.

* --help help

Display a list of all available options.

* -m s/j/m stereo mode

Joint-stereo is the default mode for stereo files with VBR when -v is more than 4 or fixed bitrates of 160kbs or less. At higher fixed bitrates or higher VBR settings, the default is stereo.

stereo
Normal stereo mode.

joint stereo
In this mode, the encoder will make use of a correlation between both channels in order to achieve higher compression. This will enhance the quality of constant bitrate recordings, and reduce the size of variable bitrate recordings.

mono
The input will be encoded as a mono signal.

* -V 0...9 VBR quality setting

Enable VBR (Variable BitRate) and specifies the value of VBR quality.
default=4
0=highest quality.