Encoding suggestions for audio books?

[Xymantix]

I'm going to be encoding some of my books-on-CD, and realized that I don't have a clue as to what's the best way to do this. Obviously LAME with the extreme setting is way overkill since there isn't much dynamic range due to it being primarily a human voice rather than musical instruments. So, assuming that I'm sticking with .MP3 format, what should I be looking at for the encoder and the settings? I'd prefer to use LAME with VBR, but am open to suggestions for both VBR settings in that scenario as well as other encoders and settings.

[refused]

http://www.speex.org/

Just now I've tried to start writing a Speex Encoder plugin for QCD but I am only just learning to program, and C++ isn't my language :( So I failed miserably. lol

[jkrzok]

I listen to a lot of old time radio and most of those files are encoded at 32/22, They sound fine because again you mostly have just people talking. Music at that encoding rate is still listenable, but barely. Since the recordings are so old the music doesnt do well anyway.

If you use QCDs LAME encoder go to the voice preset and lower the bit rates to what you find acceptable. Trial and error is in order here, and you might be surprised how low you can go.

If quality is a concern I might also suggest using a program called exact audio copy, available at
www.exactaudiocopy.de/. This seems to do a better job if the CD itself is questionable, scratched or whatnot.

By all means stick with the LAME encoder. Not only is it free but it still sounds the best.

[Xymantix]

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up going with LAME 56k ABR after a few listening tests. 48k had very noticable quality loss, and 56k was 'acceptible' since it wasn't dramatically different compared to 64k.

[shaohao]

Why not try my new encoder plug-in CLI Enocder?
You can encode any audio format as you like:)
http://www.quinnware.com/list_plugins.php?plugin=82

[refused]

Wow, very cool Shao :) Great work!

[Todd The Kiwi]

Why not try my new encoder plug-in CLI Enocder?
You can encode any audio format as you like:)
http://www.quinnware.com/list_plugins.php?plugin=82

could i encode .pca (sony perfect clarity audio, lossless compression) to say .flac (is it possible to get .flac to save at 32 bitrate ???? ) the max i can "do" is 24 which to my ears is no good since i'm copying vinyl i need max bitrate not 64 though my card etc can't do that and 64 is totally extreme man :D