Use of the mp3 format with Total Recorder is entirely optional and at the user's discretion.

High Criteria has not written and does not supply an mp3 encoding or decoding engine with Total Recorder. Instead, Total Recorder has the ability to invoke and use the standard encoding and decoding engines that come as part of the Windows operating system package or come bundled with third-party software, such as Cyberlink's MP3 Power Encoder. Total Recorder is also compatible with two popular DLLs that may be used to create mp3 files. The two DLLs are called Lame (lame_enc.dll) and Blade (bladeenc.dll) and they are available from a number of sites on the Internet as well as being part of some third-party software packages.

Virtually all new computers come with an mp3 encoding / decoding engine because it is included with the newer versions of Windows such as Windows ME and Windows XP. In such cases, it will automatically appear in Total Recorder just as will any other available compression facility. This Windows standard engine might limit the choice of bitrates. The standard compression engine is found in a file named l3codeca.acm.

As an alternative you may record an uncompressed file with Total Recorder and later use your favorite mp3 software, such as MusicMatch Jukebox or one of the hundreds of other freeware and commercial programs, to perform the compression.