Command Line LAME

Though LAME is used primarily within the other applications covered in this book and no real interaction is required, it is important that you familiarize yourself with its basic use. When run from the command line, LAME converts basic .wav files to .mp3 formatted audio files. As explained earlier, this is how icecast encodes basic audio into MP3 format, whether it be static files or streaming audio.

The most basic usage of LAME is as follows:

$ lame [options] <infile> [outfile]

The variables <infile> and/or <outfile> can be "-", referring to stdin/stdout. This means that standard input data or output data, whether it resides locally or is being inputted via an input jack on the sound card, can be sent out in the same manner.

Here is one recommended method of using LAME from the command line:

$ lame -h input.wav output.mp3

If LAME is not in your $PATH you may have to call it from its current location. Otherwise, if you installed the binary in /usr/local/bin you should have no problems. Here LAME is called using the recommended higher quality method or the -h variable. Next, state the audio file to be changed and the final edited file in MP3 format.