????

What Dalen said. That's one of my most-used computer tools.

these frontends work great. download the lame frontend. youll need lame too, theres a link on the page for that.

I use a slightly different approach...



but you might be better off to stick to the recs already posted.

I use cdex, which is really basic but useful. I'm sure dbpoweramp is good too.

thanks d, you're a lifesaver

Nice links. I'm so used to using the Sound Forge program at work that I've never thought about it before.

I use CDex too. Free, very basic, and gets the job done relatively painlessly. These are all pluses in my book.

I have used CDex for a long time ... no frills program but easy

For another very powerful (and free) audio program (see below for a list of features)-- runs on Win, Mac, Linux/Unix


http://audacity.sourceforge.net/


Features

This is a list of features in Audacity, the free audio editor. For more information on how to use these features, go to the help pages.
Recording

Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from cassette tapes, vinyl records, or minidiscs. With some sound cards, it can also capture streaming audio.

* Record from microphone, line input, or other sources.
* Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
* Record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel hardware).
* Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording.

Import and Export

Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or new recordings. Export your recordings in several common file formats.

* Import and export WAV, AIFF, AU, and Ogg Vorbis files.
* Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) with libmad.
* Export MP3s with the optional LAME encoder library.
* Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
* Import and export all file formats supported by libsndfile.
* Open raw (headerless) audio files using the “Import Raw” command.
* Note: Audacity does not currently support WMA, AAC, or most other proprietary or restricted file formats.

Editing

* Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.
* Use unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps.
* Very fast editing of large files.
* Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks.
* Use the Drawing tool to alter individual sample points.
* Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the Envelope tool.

Effects

* Change the pitch without altering the tempo, or vice-versa.
* Remove static, hiss, hum, or other constant background noises.
* Alter frequencies with Equalization, FFT Filter, and Bass Boost effects.
* Adjust volumes with Compressor, Amplify, and Normalize effects.
* Other built-in effects include:
o Echo
o Phaser
o Wahwah
o Reverse

Sound Quality

* Record and edit 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit (floating point) samples.
* Record at up to 96 KHz.
* Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering.
* Mix tracks with different sample rates or formats, and Audacity will convert them automatically in realtime.

Plug-Ins

* Add new effects with LADSPA plugins.
* Audacity includes some sample plugins by Steve Harris.
* Load VST plugins for Windows and Mac, with the optional VST Enabler.
* Write new effects with the built-in Nyquist programming language.

Analysis

* Spectrogram mode for visualizing frequencies.
* “Plot Spectrum” command for detailed frequency analysis.

Free and Cross-Platform

* Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
* Runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and GNU/Linux.

On the mac there's an app free to download called EasyWMA. Just drag and drop and it does everything else. Let's you change bitrate to that of your choosing.


But the other's listed are good too, this just happens to be what I use.

if you get dbpoweramp (which in my opinon is the best, because you can just right-click a file ((or group of files)) in windows explorer and convert it instantly) make sure you search out version 10 of the software because version 11 is really only a trial version and it makes you pay for the mp3 capibility. I have the version 10 file if anyone needs it.

I use Lame through EAC.

when i had a pc i always just used winamp because it did the job and i already was using it for playback.

c.