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I have been burning CDs for quite a while now, but whenever I have done audio, it is either backing up my CDs for car or walkman use, or burning mp3 data discs containing my mp3s.
I have hardly ever converted from one format to the other.

Any recommendations for an audio converting newbie.

I used CDex this morning, because someone had recommended it a while back; are there noticeably better alternatives out there?

Thanks!

CDex is one of the best MP3 encoders out there already. You can't beat the speed when CDex rips and encodes CD tracks in a matter of seconds and best of all, its FREE.

ive been using cdex since i was a wee lad (well you know what i mean ) it simply cannot be beaten by anything out there for quality and speed.

Lame mp3 with r3mix set at 224 kbits = outstanding

I use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) with the r3mix.net settings, but I use CDex too!

Encoding .mp3 EAC @ 320kbps CBR. Forget about VBR for music.
When the size of the file does not matter, use CBR. I back up all of my music with CBR @ 320 kbps.
goto: www.r3mix.net Then go to the quality link.

"Knowing the facts of mp3, you could, if space is not really an issue use:
cbr 256kbit/s by Lame or some Fraunhofer encoders
Remarks: Guaranteed perfect(x) transparent encoding, but guaranteed overkill on most parts of the music. Also: space is always an issue if you use mp3, because otherwise why no use a lossless (eg. zip) compressor for your music..."
So I can average 4 or 5 music CD @ 320kbps per 700mb cd-r. Not great, but the quality is there.

.mp3 -> any format Cool Edit 2000.

Cool Edit is outstanding for editing too.

I used to work in a recording studio (about 12 years ago) and this is very powerful software.

Cool Edit can save to almost any format, regardless of the original source.
It can take a long sound clip (concert bootlegs ?) and add 'cue' points. Then you can save it and have a concert cd with a working 'skip' button.
Of course it you can edit by waveform or by timecode (NTSC {dropframe}, I'm not sure about PAL).

Cool Edit could be overkill for a beginner, but it really does it all !

www.cooledit.com

I've been archiving all of my CD's to .mp3's. I use EAC in secured mode w/ my plextor 40x cd-rom then encode using razorlame front end and the lame command line as "lame --alt-preset standard"

CDex for ripping and dbPowerAmp for converting to other formats.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

Then click on music convertor. It has shell intergation, so converting is a breeze.