Dave Winer writes that he finally found good CD Ripping software for Windows and then links to one of the myriad of low-end rippers available. The best method for ripping CDs with rock-solid quality of encoding is EAC in tandem with the Lame encoder. Both are free. Set the programs up, insert a CD, tell EAC to grab information from the CDDB and then rip/encode perfectly, with the best fidelity at whatever bitrate you choose.

Audiophiles everywhere have contributed to these projects for years through real A/B testing, code contributions, and a whole lotta discussion at the number one place to learn everything you need to know about MP3s (and other audio topics, such as lossless encoding, etc.): the HydrogenAudio Forums.