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- Exact Audio Copy – By far the best CD audio extractor I’ve ever used. Not quite for the novice, it was developed by a Geman college student who was fed up with other audio extracters, well, all sucking hardcore. It took me a couple of weeks to learn the in’s and out’s of the program, but once I finally got it configured right, it was a Godsend for several reasons. Two big ones are it’s flexibility, as it’s able to use both the FLAC and LAME MP3 encoders, and another is it’s ability to perfectly read all but the most severely scratched CD’s. It’s saved me on several occasions from having to go out and buy the CD again. (EAC Website)
- LAME – Don’t let the name fool you, LAME is generally accepted as the greatest MP3 encoder out on the market, which is no small feat, given not only how long it’s been out (since 1999), and also the fact it’s just so damn simple to use. Works with many of the audio extractors out there, especially Exact Audio Copy, it’s a must-download for anyone wanting to encode their CD’s to put onto their iPods (LAME Website) (Alternate download site)
- FLAC – FLAC stands for the Free Lossless Audio Codec, and it’s for the people who don’t want to even slightly skimp on the quality of their audio. It’s an encoder which, unlike MP3, doesn’t remove anything from the original recording, basically allowing you to listen to full CD audio quality sound. Because the file size is so much larger than an MP3 of the same song, you might be interested in one or two of these little beauties (FLAC Website)
- Audacity – Audacity os a sound editing program I discovered some years back when I went searching to a free alternative to Cool Edit. The flexibility and sheer number of featuers completely amazed me, and I haven’t looked back since. It allows you to save files in a variety of formats, including WAV, MP3, and the list goes on, and I’ve used this to create ringtones in the past for my RAZR. All in all, a highly, highly recommended piece of software. (Audacity Website)