diff --git a/AudioRecorder.pas b/AudioRecorder.pas
index f0ddd31..aefcf49 100644
--- a/AudioRecorder.pas
+++ b/AudioRecorder.pas
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@   TAudioRecorder = class
     FCurrentBuffer: Integer;
     FDeviceList: TStringList;
     FMP3Encoder: TMP3Encoder;
+    procedure EnsureMP3Encoder;
     procedure InitializeWaveFormat;
     procedure PrepareBuffers;
     procedure UnprepareBuffers;
@@ -151,6 +152,8 @@ procedure TMP3Encoder.GetLameFunctions;
 procedure TMP3Encoder.EncodeFileToMP3(const WavFile, MP3File: string; BitRate: Integer);
 var
   WavStream, MP3Stream: TMemoryStream;
+  LBytes: TBytes;
+  LFile: AnsiString;
 begin
   WavStream := TMemoryStream.Create;
   try
@@ -158,7 +161,9 @@ procedure TMP3Encoder.EncodeFileToMP3(const WavFile, MP3File: string; BitRate: I
     MP3Stream := EncodeStreamToMP3(WavStream, BitRate);
     try
       MP3Stream.SaveToFile(MP3File);
-      beWriteVBRHeader(PAnsiChar(AnsiString(MP3File)));
+      LBytes := TEncoding.ANSI.GetBytes(MP3File);
+      SetString(LFile, PAnsiChar(@LBytes[0]), Length(LBytes));
+      beWriteVBRHeader(PAnsiChar(LFile));
     finally
       MP3Stream.Free;
     end;
@@ -305,6 +310,12 @@ function TMP3Encoder.EncodeStreamToMP3(WavStream: TStream; BitRate: Integer): TM
 
 { TAudioRecorder }
 
+procedure TAudioRecorder.EnsureMP3Encoder;
+begin
+  if not Assigned(FMP3Encoder) then
+    FMP3Encoder := TMP3Encoder.Create;
+end;
+
 constructor TAudioRecorder.Create;
 begin
   inherited;
@@ -312,7 +323,7 @@ constructor TAudioRecorder.Create;
   FRecordedData := TMemoryStream.Create;
   FRecording := False;
   FCurrentBuffer := 0;
-  FMP3Encoder := TMP3Encoder.Create;
+  FMP3Encoder := nil;
   InitializeWaveFormat;
 end;
 
@@ -321,7 +332,10 @@ destructor TAudioRecorder.Destroy;
   FDeviceList.Free;
   if FRecording then
     StopRecording;
-  FMP3Encoder.Free;
+  
+  if (assigned(FMP3Encoder)) then
+    FMP3Encoder.Free;
+    
   FRecordedData.Free;
   inherited;
 end;
@@ -554,6 +568,7 @@ function TAudioRecorder.GetMP3Stream(BitRate: Integer): TMemoryStream;
 var
   WavStream: TMemoryStream;
 begin
+  EnsureMP3Encoder;
   WavStream := GetWaveStream;
   try
     Result := FMP3Encoder.EncodeStreamToMP3(WavStream, BitRate);