Looking for a good free MP3 encoder?

[bongo]

Trying to shrink my CD collection, which MP3 encoder is the best, and which is the cheapest (ie free). Are they the same?

thanks

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"the horror....the horror..."

ABit BE6 II w/ Pentium3 500mhz
Matrox G400 DH max
Aureal Vortex SuperQuad2500
19" PF790 Viewsonic (superb flat screen)
19" Samsung 950p (amazing quality for the price)
ACK 580 crdless k/b and mouse
Panasonic 7585 CD RW 32x8x4
Pioneer DVD 114 10x
USR V90 ISA everything modem
one big case fan and standard retail CPU cooling from Intel

[mynx]

I have used Musicmatch for years now. They just keep making it better and updates are free. It costs $29 for the CD quality version. It encode them from my Yamaha CDRW drive at over 4X. Slower from the Pioneer drives. They also include M$ mediaplayer capabilities.

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Mine: Epox EP-MVP3G5, Matrox G400 32mb DH + RRG, K6-3/450, 128mb PC133, WD 10.2gb ATA66, Pio 32x CDROM, LS-120, Adaptec 2940U2W, Yamaha CDRW4416, Pio DVD-303, Scsi Zip 100, SBlive platinum, Linksys 10/100, HP 712c, HP 6200
Hers: Epox MVP3G-M, G200+TVout+DVD, K6-2/450 504@112, 128mb PC133, WD 8.4gb, Pio 6x DVD, Zip 250, Diamond S90, Linksys 10/100

[AlgoRhythm]

This one is the best out there.
And they're always making it faster and better quality.

<a href="http://www.sulaco.org/mp3/">http://www.sulaco.org/mp3/</a>

And here's a ripper that has the above encoder built-in to rip straight to mp3.

<a href="http://www.cdex.n3.net/">http://www.cdex.n3.net/</a>

AlgoRhythm

[bongo]

Thanks a lot for the CDex link, that is one excellent MP3 encdr!



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"The path of excess leads to the temple of knowledge"

ABit BE6 II UDMA 66 w/ PentiumIII 500mhz
Matrox G400 DH 32 meg MAX
Maxtor 13gig UDMA66 7200 Seagate 9gig UDMA33 7200
Aureal Vortex SuperQuad2500
19" PF790 Viewsonic (superb flat screen)
19" Samsung 950p (amazing quality for the price)
ACK 580 crdless k/b and mouse
Panasonic 7585 CD RW 32x8x4
Pioneer DVD 114 10x40x
USR V90 ISA everything modem
one big case fan and standard retail CPU/HS cooling from Intel