Dave Sherman wrote:

> Hey all --
> 
> I am looking around for a good CD ripper/mp3 encoder, and it appears 
> that there are a LOT of them out there. Just s simple search at 
> freshmeat turned up a bunch of hits.
> 
> So I'm wondering, does anyone on the list have a suggestion or two for 
> good apps in this arena? I don't care if it's a console app, X-based, 
> or whatever. I run Window Maker for my wm, and I am pretty much 
> desktop-environment-agnostic. Although if you can suggest a nice WM 
> dock app, that might be cool.
> 
> Dave Sherman

<advocacy>
Go with oggenc!  The Vorbis/Ogg format is technically superior, [fF]ree,
and there's an xmms plugin for it readily available.

Look at http://www.vorbis.com for downloads, etc.
</advocacy>

As far as ripping a CD to PCM/WAV format, cdparanoia is a console-based
app that seems to work fine.  MP3 encoders themselves are a more complex 
issue.  My co-workers swear by xing, but it's commercial.  I've used 
bladeenc, and it seems serviceable for my meager needs (128Kbps was as 
hard as I pushed it).  But seriously, look at Ogg Vorbis.  It's much 
higher sound quality in the same amount of disk space.

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