Ripping mp3's from CD? Best settings/program?

I'm looking to rip my existing CD collection to 320 kb mp3 but I hear that the iTunes encoder isn't that good for mp3's. Can anyone refute that claim? Is there a better ripper out there?

THere is nothing wrong with the iTunes encoder

I've read numerous times that LAME is the way to go with cd ripping but I can't seem to a LAME plug in that works with the latest version of iTunes.

So you just stick with iTunes?

You could rip to lossless in iTunes and then encode with LAME:

Download NMP3 Ripper for Mac - Fast, high quality MP3 song ripper. MacUpdate.com

You might also be able to do everything via the command line after downloading some things. The following is for Linux, but might work in OS X as well:

HowTo: Linux Rip and Encode Audio CDs

You can also use Audacity to encode to LAME after ripping to lossless
Audacity: Mac OS X

or yet another alternative, you can do it all with

MaX

OR XLD for ripping and using any of what I already gave you for encoding.

Download X Lossless Decoder for Mac - Encode, transcode, and play various music file formats. MacUpdate.com

There are plenty of options out there, you just have to look!

Doug

On tests I conducted a while back, the LAME encoder is in fact better than the built-in Frauhofer encoder used in iTunes, so something like MaX might be an option for you if you're determined to encode to MP3 at all.

Personally, I left MP3 years ago in favor of what to me is the superior sound of AAC. You can hear the difference most obviously on high-hat drums and a few other types of sounds. Since most of the music I have in iTunes is ripped from CD, I have an "ultimate lossless backup" if you will and am quite satisfied with 256kbit AAC, though of course I don't have a $10,000 audio setup or anything like that.

When I switched to AAC I was worried that nothing else would ever support it, but those fears appear to have been misguided. MP3 is still more widely accepted than AAC, so if you want near-universal device compatibility then MP3 is still the way to go, but I wouldn't play music on something that I can't hook a compatible AAC-playing device to, so it's a non-issue to me.

i could never "hear" anything wrong with the iTunes encoder. an option might be also to switch to iTunes match - here it costs 25 euros per year (might be 25$ for you) and you have always the best possible quality. maybe an option?!

Its all preference. I tried the LAME encoder for a while, but found that with my hardware I could hear no discernible difference. I can't be bothered with it (LAME is done from command line, unless you download a GUI kit or Max). I'd rather just do 320 CBR in iTunes as it's pretty much identical and I dont need to faff around with files afterwards.