There were definitely variations in sound quality from different MP3 encoders, so you probably weren't imagining things. IIRC libmpg123 was for decoding/ playb

There were definitely variations in sound quality from different MP3 encoders, so you probably weren't imagining things. IIRC libmpg123 was for decoding/ playback rather than encoding, but there were a number of suboptimal encoders before the scene settled on LAME as the best option for MP3's. These days you can get better lossy encodes at smaller files with AAC (the industry standard for end-user lossy audio) or Opus — a great free & open source alternative. All you could want to know about audio encoding, including listening tests (with original posts from the heyday) is still online at the Hydrogen Audio forum. There are some great threads there, and they've been debunking audiophile snake-oil for decades. Enjoy the rabbit hole ;) https://hydrogenaud.io https://hydrogenaud.io