diff --git a/ext/lame/gstlame.c b/ext/lame/gstlame.c
index 89e10906b2..673cd6f888 100644
--- a/ext/lame/gstlame.c
+++ b/ext/lame/gstlame.c
@@ -58,7 +58,14 @@ GST_PADTEMPLATE_FACTORY (gst_lame_sink_factory,
       "signed",     GST_PROPS_BOOLEAN (TRUE),
       "width",      GST_PROPS_INT (16),
       "depth",      GST_PROPS_INT (16),
-      "rate",       GST_PROPS_INT_RANGE (8000, 48000),
+      "rate",       GST_PROPS_LIST (
+	              GST_PROPS_INT (16000), 
+	              GST_PROPS_INT (22050),
+	              GST_PROPS_INT (24000),
+	              GST_PROPS_INT (32000),
+	              GST_PROPS_INT (44100),
+	              GST_PROPS_INT (48000)
+	            ),
       "channels",   GST_PROPS_INT_RANGE (1, 2)
   )
 )
@@ -339,7 +346,24 @@ gst_lame_sinkconnect (GstPad *pad, GstCaps *caps)
   lame = GST_LAME (gst_pad_get_parent (pad));
 
   if (!GST_CAPS_IS_FIXED (caps))
+  {
+    GST_DEBUG (GST_CAT_CAPS, "caps on lame pad %s:%s not fixed, delayed\n",
+	       GST_DEBUG_PAD_NAME (pad));
     return GST_PAD_CONNECT_DELAYED;
+  }
+  /*
+  GST_INFO (GST_CAT_CAPS, "dumping supplied caps %p\n", caps);
+  gst_caps_debug (caps);
+  GST_INFO (GST_CAT_CAPS, "dumping caps of own pad %s:%s\n", GST_DEBUG_PAD_NAME (pad));
+  */
+  gst_caps_debug (gst_pad_get_caps (pad));
+  /* check if the supplied caps of the peer element are compatible with our own      use gst_pad_get_caps because if caps aren't set yet we need the template */
+  if (!gst_caps_check_compatibility (caps, gst_pad_get_caps (pad)))
+  {
+    GST_DEBUG (GST_CAT_CAPS, "peer caps (%p) not compatible with caps of pad %s:%s!\n",
+	       caps, GST_DEBUG_PAD_NAME (pad));
+    return GST_PAD_CONNECT_REFUSED;
+  }
 
   lame->samplerate = gst_caps_get_int (caps, "rate");
   lame->num_channels = gst_caps_get_int (caps, "channels");
@@ -377,7 +401,7 @@ gst_lame_init (GstLame *lame)
 
   GST_FLAG_SET (lame, GST_ELEMENT_EVENT_AWARE);
 
-  GST_DEBUG (0, "setting up lame encoder\n");
+  GST_DEBUG (GST_CAT_PLUGIN_INFO, "setting up lame encoder\n");
   lame->lgf = lame_init ();
 
   lame->samplerate = 44100;
@@ -416,7 +440,7 @@ gst_lame_init (GstLame *lame)
   lame->no_short_blocks = lame_get_no_short_blocks (lame->lgf);
   lame->emphasis = lame_get_emphasis (lame->lgf);
 
-  GST_DEBUG (0, "done initializing lame element\n");
+  GST_DEBUG (GST_CAT_PLUGIN_INFO, "done initializing lame element\n");
 }
 
 
@@ -657,7 +681,7 @@ gst_lame_chain (GstPad *pad, GstBuffer *buf)
 
   lame = GST_LAME (gst_pad_get_parent (pad));
 
-  GST_DEBUG (0, "entered\n");
+  GST_DEBUG (GST_CAT_PLUGIN_INFO, "entered chain\n");
 
   if (!lame->initialized) {
     gst_element_error (GST_ELEMENT (lame), "encoder not initialized (input is not audio?)");
@@ -705,7 +729,7 @@ gst_lame_chain (GstPad *pad, GstBuffer *buf)
 		    mp3_data, mp3_buffer_size);
     }
 
-    GST_DEBUG (0, "encoded %d bytes of audio to %d bytes of mp3\n", GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buf), mp3_size);
+    GST_DEBUG (GST_CAT_PLUGIN_INFO, "encoded %d bytes of audio to %d bytes of mp3\n", GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buf), mp3_size);
     gst_buffer_unref (buf);
   }
   
@@ -780,6 +804,7 @@ gst_lame_setup (GstLame *lame)
   }
   else {
     lame->initialized = TRUE;
+    GST_INFO (GST_CAT_PLUGIN_INFO, "lame encoder initialized");
   }
 
   GST_DEBUG_LEAVE ("");