I used to use the Blade encoder, with front blade. But I have since switched to Wavelab as it is better sounding to me, easy to pick different encoding rates, and is much quicker to process, if needed. After using Wavelab, I don't feel a need to look for something better......unless someone tells me of one that is equally as good and processes a typical song in under 2 seconds, and fixes all my mixing mistakes at the same time
I also use Wavelab. However, I believe Wavelab 4.0 uses the Lame encoder, which I think is shareware or freeware. Try a Google search for lame encoder.