Hi all,

What is the best audio encoder for converting DVD rip audio to MPEG1 layer II audio for a VCD? I know some of you would say just use whatever ones is with the video codec but I want everything to be as perfect as possible from the source material I could multiplex them if necessary. I was originally thinking use Lame but that's dumb of course since Lame is MP3 not MP2.... Not sure how well it performs withmainly talking anyway.

Bit rate will probably be 224kbps stereo (I believe this will be better then JS for a Dolby Surround source if I want to maintain the Dolby Pro Logic as much as possible) since I do care more about the video bitrate so can't 'afford' 384kbps unless I violate the VCD2.0 standards which I don't want to do.

Also, what will the best source material be? I'm thinking the AC-3 2.0 stream which is already stereo Dolby Surround of course. It will probably be better quality then converting the ACS-3 5.1 EX to Dolby Surround or even just plan stereo right? However will perhaps the DTS 6.1 ES (not sure if it is discrete or matrix) which is a better quality be a better source material? Or will the down conversion to either stereo or Dolby Surround (if that's even possible) make it worse? I'm doing Lord of the Rings extended.

Thanks for all your help