SOTW: Exact Audio Copy
I admit it, I am an MP3 whore, I have over 33,000 MP3s. I made the big conversion to MP3s a few years ago and haven’t looked back. When I did make the change though I needed to make sure I got some great software to rip my CDs. I didn’t want to have to do the whole process more than once as I have a ton of CDs. I did a ton of research when for what software to use and I kept seeing EAC (Exact Audio Copy) being named the best. I used it and I have been extremely happy with the results.
I use EAC on the alt-present-extreme setting, which is just one step down from the best, alt-preset-insane. I would happily put my mp3′s encoded with lame against a CD and challenge someone to tell the difference, I know I have tried it and I can’t tell.
EAC has been very good to me over the years, it’s rock solid, very easy to use and free!