CD recorder/mp3 ripper

[labrat25]

does anybody know of a good mp3 ripper and/or cd recorder?

I saw the recomendation in this month's Maximum PC but don't have it with me

 

[AIWGuru]

WMA lossless is a mathematically exact copy of the cd at about 1/2-3/4 the size.
This is the format I choose because mathematically lossless ripping means never having to rip more than 100 cds again.
When I want to load it onto my MP3 player, media player automatically downsamples it to whatever I want.
At BELOW 128kbps, wma produces far superior sound than mp3 for your "mp3 player" space saving awesomeness.
Media player 9 is great.
edit: microsoft also provides a free tool to convert back to the original pcm cd files!

 

[DaveSimmons]

FLAC is lossless, cross-platform, open source and about the same size as lossless WMA.

Exact Audio Copy + LAME (for MP3) or FLAC (for lossless) makes a great ripper.
CDEx is also popular.

visit www.hydrogenaudio.org and/or search archived threads in the Software forum ("ripper" "mp3")

 

[AIWGuru]

P.S. general hardware