Everybody here does know that ripping and encoding are two different processes, right? In order to have a good encode, you must first have a perfect rip of the cd.
Among mp3 afficionados, EAC is the best ripper of all, verified by their tests and all although it is just a tad better than cdex at full paranoia setting. If the cd is new or flawless, there is really no difference between their outputs. But when the cd is scratched, that's when EAC shines over the others because it has this error correction method of reading the cd over and over until it has read it correct.
For encoding, LAME is the best there is. Alt.preset.standard should be enough to have a transparent encode for 90% of music out there while alt.preset.insane is there for the "audiophiles" or for classical music encoding. You can use LAME through a front end like CDex, Razorlame, etc. or you can just use EAC itself.
Personally, I use CDex set at LAME alt.preset.standard because it is just so easy and simple to use. When I come up with cds that CDex is having trouble to rip (i.e. scratched cd), I then fire up EAC to rip that particular track that CDex is balking at. In my opinion, the combination of the two is the WIN.
