LAME for transcoding

This page needs editing. It may contain errors and/or outdated information. There are some cases when using Squeezebox Server that you need to limit the bitrate or transcode the audio format to MP3 on the fly. This is commonly needed when using the stream.mp3 interface for external players like Winamp, or to save network bandwidth when streaming over the Internet.

This is performed by installing an application called LAME.

Installing Lame

Windows

• Go to http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php
• Download the latest non-beta LAME release (currently 3.97)
• Extract LAME.EXE from the zip archive you download and place it in C:\Program Files\Squeezebox\server\bin

Mac OSX

• Download and install iTunes-LAME from http://download.cnet.com/iTunes-LAME-Encoder/3000-2140_4-22494.html or another source of your choice
• extract the zip archive
• place iTunes-LAME.app in ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts (i.e. the Library of the user who is running the Squeezebox Server; installing in /Library for all users will not work. You may need to create the Scripts folder.)
• Stop and restart the Squeezebox Server (System Preferences->Squeezebox Server)

Linux

• Installation will vary based on your distribution.

Configuration

Once LAME is installed, go to Squeezebox Server / MySqueezebox.com's Settings -> Advanced > File Types and enable the LAME option for each of the file types you need to transcode. Otherwise if you set your player to limit the bitrate but the file type is set to Disabled on the server, it will just skip files it can't transcode.

Related Topics

This topic is also discussed in the AAC article.

Since LAME does not work well on SheevaPlug devices, Shine can be used instead on them.