CD conversion to MP3?

[etalianstallion]

Just a random question....what's a good utility to use to convert CDs or wav files to MP3? I have been using the free version of MusicMatch Jukebox but I have heard that the conversion algorithm or method used does not produce high-quality MP3s (I'm not referring to the bitrate here). What do you use or recommend (either free or $$) for this?

[yschang]

You may want to try dBpoweramp Music converter (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm)

You can choose which codec you want to install (MP3, OGG or others) and rip from CD using the powerpack AudioCD input...

I have been ripping using this for a while now. It's quite good.

[carlosgp]

I recommend Exact Audio Copy to extract audio and LAME to encode mp3. I think is the best way to encode music by much. Read about psychoacoustic audio in http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/

EAC
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

EAC Tutorials
http://www.ping.be/satcp/

LAME
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?s=93cbc93e8f9b6f6fb29d49372141d744&act=ST&f=15&t=478&st=0

[mattp]

I've also been using the free version of MusicMatch and found it quite simple to convert files. It's been a while since I've used it, but doesn't MusicMatch offer you several different options for MP3 quality ("CD Quality," etc.) provided you are willing to pony up the memory for higher quality? From your signature, it doesn't look like adequate storage space is much of a problem for you.

Also, in your experience, how true is this: You can get the same quality WMA with less storage space than MP3? I tried to download the free plug-in for MusicMatch that supposedly allows you to convert files to WMA instead of MP3. WMA is supposed to take up less storage space. I couldn't get the plug-in to work, though. Maybe WMA offers more options for quality, I don't know . . .

[luebster]

I use CDex (http://www.cdex.n3.net/). It's free, uses the LAME encoder, and supports various formats (MP3, OGG, APE, etc.).

Very easy to use and one click rip/encode!

[Pony99CA]

Do all of the referenced rippers support CDDB lookup and flexible file naming support? I have MusicMatch configured to save my files in <artist>\<album>\<artist> - <title>.mp3 format so that I can easily find an artist when I move a song to my Pocket PC.

Steve

P.S. My usual rant. :-) Please don't post long links "naked". The board software doesn't wrap them, and it resets the margins for the whole page, forcing horizontal scrolling. Use the URL tags, like this:


[url=http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?s=93cbc93e8f9b6f6fb29d49372141d744&act=ST&f=15&t=478&st=0]
LAME Encoder
[/url]


The above looks like the following when posted:

LAME Encoder
(http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?s=93cbc93e8f9b6f6fb29d49372141d744&act=ST&f=15&t=478&st=0)
See how much nicer that is? :-)

[etalianstallion]

I've also been using the free version of MusicMatch and found it quite simple to convert files. It's been a while since I've used it, but doesn't MusicMatch offer you several different options for MP3 quality ("CD Quality," etc.) provided you are willing to pony up the memory for higher quality? From your signature, it doesn't look like adequate storage space is much of a problem for you.

Also, in your experience, how true is this: You can get the same quality WMA with less storage space than MP3? I tried to download the free plug-in for MusicMatch that supposedly allows you to convert files to WMA instead of MP3. WMA is supposed to take up less storage space. I couldn't get the plug-in to work, though. Maybe WMA offers more options for quality, I don't know . . .

Yes, I know that MusicMatch allows you to select the quality of the MP3, and that basically means that you get to select what bitrate it is encoded in, whether CBR or VBR. I have been told though that MusicMatch does not encode "quality" MP3s, meaning that if I encode if with MusicMatch at, say, 256 kbps, and compare that to a MP3 encoded by another software/codec at the same bitrate, the one created by MusicMatch will be of lower quality.

Regarding WMA, I haven't had much experience there myself, so I wouldn't be able to comment on that.

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll give those suggestions a try.

[carlosgp]

Try EAC+Lame, is the way to go. Trust me. "Professional" mp3, guaranteed :).

[Kati Compton]

Do all of the referenced rippers support CDDB lookup and flexible file naming support? I have MusicMatch configured to save my files in <artist>\<album>\<artist> - <title>.mp3 format so that I can easily find an artist when I move a song to my Pocket PC.


CDex does all this.

[Sven Johannsen]

Not sure why nobody has mentioned the one on your PC already? Windows Media Player. I find it easy and the wma's are acceptable to me. There are several add-ons you can get to add MP3 support for very little $ if that is what you need.