Rich's Tongfamily (Richtong.net add-on)

mp3dev They’ve been changing the presets in Lame. With 3.96, the names changes from –alt-preset to just –preset. Here is a quick list:
h3. –preset medium
This preset should provide near transparency to most people on most music. The resulting bitrate should be in the 150-180kbps range, according to music complexity.
h3. –preset standard
This preset should generally be transparent to most people on most music and is already quite high in quality. The resulting bitrate should be in the 170-210kbps range, according to music complexity.
h3. –preset extreme
If you have extremely good hearing and similar equipment, this preset will provide slightly higher quality than the “standard” mode. The resulting bitrate should be in the 200-240kbps range, according to music complexity.
h3. fast option
Any of those VBR presets can also be used in fast mode, using the new vbr algorithm. This mode is faster, but its quality could be a little lower. To enable the fast mode, use:
bq. lame –preset fast [medium|standard|extreme]
h3. For version earlier than 3.96
The same options apply, except you use the –alt-preset instead of –preset.