Easy way to rip and encode MP3s

[Adcadet]

Hey gang,
My father-in-law is into books on tape, and he's getting an MP3 player for his birthday soon. My wife's family would like me to get the software to rip and encode audio books on CD from the local public library into MP3 format. Back in the day I remember using dBPowerAmp, although I vaguely remember that more current versions are somewhat crippled. Anybody know a good easy and free app for this? Anybody know of a more advanced app that might be nice for him once he gets his bearings? He's not a beginner but not advanced, and he's happy to learn more.

Thanks,
Adcadet

 

[Handruin]

I know there's a bunch if you look around here. Last one I remember Stereodude gave some good info regarding this task. If you want easier than that at the sacrifices of quality and accuracy, I'd recommend CDEX for its simply one click conversion to MP3.

Since this is for an audio book you probably don't need the best of quality for those. Using lower encoding rate will allow you to fit more books onto the mp3 player (if you don't care about the best possible quality).

 

[Adcadet]

I'm guessing the CDEX site is this one: http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos/

 

[Handruin]

Yes that's the one, sorry. I thought I copied the URL to CDEX but must not have. I pasted the same URL twice...

 

[Adcadet]

Handy - thanks for the suggestion. I set up CDex on my father-in-law's computer and taught him how to use it all in about an hour - a new record. The software is pretty easy to use, it came with LAME, and the LAME encoder presets looked pretty reasonable.
Thanks again!
Adcadet