Encode a podcast with metadata using command-line LAME

encode-podcast.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Encode a WAV to a finalized podcast MP3 with metadata, in the current directory
# Requires lame
# With Homebrew on Mac OS X: brew install lame

SHOW_AUTHOR="ATP"

EPISODE_NUMBER=104
EPISODE_TITLE="Minutiæ"
EPISODE_SUMMARY="Please email us about Photos.app, UXKit, and React."

INPUT_WAV_FILE="atp${EPISODE_NUMBER}.wav"

# Artwork: ideally 1400x1400, but less than 128 KB to maximize compatibility
ARTWORK_JPG_FILENAME="${HOME}/Dropbox/ATP/Artwork.jpg"

# Output quality (kbps): 96 or 64 recommended
MP3_KBPS=96

lame --noreplaygain --cbr -h -b $MP3_KBPS --resample 44.1 --tt "$EPISODE_NUMBER: $EPISODE_TITLE" --tc "$EPISODE_SUMMARY" --ta "$SHOW_AUTHOR" --tl "$SHOW_AUTHOR" --ty `date '+%Y'` --ti "$ARTWORK_JPG_FILENAME" --add-id3v2 "$INPUT_WAV_FILE" "${INPUT_WAV_FILE%%.wav}.mp3"

A few people have asked about that --resample argument. It's there to override LAME's default behavior of stepping down the sample rate (e.g. to 32 kHz) when using lower bitrates like 64 kbps.

Not thinking into account Forecast, do you still recommend these options for LAME?

I use lame -h -b 128 -m j --noreplaygain for 128kbits high quality, joint-stereo file. Any other settings you would recommend for the best possible quality in 2016?