sw7x >> thanx for the hard work & helping out
like to add my contribution to what u started too...
Although you can rip from Winamp 5+ Pro.. the mp3s cannot be considered as the acurates of rips..
2 things you need to remember if you wanna get the most accurate rip
1. An application that Rips the Audio without any errors (With the Minimum of c2 errors)
2. The best Encoder that is currently available (mp3 encoder in this case)
3. The correct encoding setting (192 kbps - VBR)
So the best application that combines all the above 3 is EAC (Exact Audio Copy)..
1. EAC is the best Audio Ripper in the world where you can get the perfect Rip.
2. LAME mp3 Encoder is the best mp3 encoder in the world (Which is not used by Winamp I think, bt is used by EAC & Foobar)
3. The correct bit setting currently going around is 192 kbps VBR (170-210) & 245 kbps VBR (220-260). For the people who doesn't know do not use CBR or 128kbps for your ripping as that setting is NOT CD QUALITY.
I'm too lazy to explain all the above settings I talked about again just checkout this thread if u r interested -
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65582&highlight=audio
Theres another alternative to EAC...which is Foobar..
Its even easier to use than Winamp & further its free...
It uses Lame to encode & its the first application to introduce 'Replay Gain' instead of normalizing.
Get it here-
http://www.foobar2000.org/
bt if you are willing for a bit of hard work & wanna get the best Audio Rips you could ever get then use EAC & this guide to setit up-
EAC Setup & Ripping Guide
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people like rapa has very good knowledge in these areas..hope he give comments