The free Audiograbber is one of the best CD Rippers you can find. This piece of software was previously only available for money. But in 2004, it was released as freeware and developed further. The latest version is the one from 2020. I use this software whenever I want to rip some music from my CD collection, simply because it does the job better than most, if not all, of the other CD Rippers (one alternative with fewer features would be iTunes).
Just ripping the audio files from a CD is not enough if you need (or want) a good quality music experience. Some essential parts are automatically normalizing the music, deleting silence from the start and/or end of tracks, and encoding them to various formats, including MP3. And all of this is performed well with the Audiograbber. You can even record your vinyl LPs or cassette tapes with Audiograbber and make WAVs or MP3s of them.
Another important feature is to name your tracks. You should use this feature to know what’s on a specific track. Otherwise, you will only see track numbers in the folder where you save your songs.
The new Audiograbber
Before 2020, installing the MP3 Encoder Plugin was necessary if you wanted to create MP3s. This is not needed anymore. The 2020 Edition of Audiograbber 1.83 offers integrated MP3 functionality. Also, freedb ceased its service. So retrieval of CD data via gnudb was implemented as a replacement for the now-discontinued freedb.
Note: There are two versions of the Audiograbber available. If you are okay with ads, you can download the free version. But if you prefer not to be bothered with ads, you might want to consider paying $9.90. I use the free version and am happy with it.
Important
Ripping CDs is okay as long as you keep those audio files for yourself. You can rip as much as you want for your personal use. However, it is illegal to upload those files to websites (even to YouTube) or to give them to someone else. You can also not use them to play them publicly (e.g. in a dance club). All those uses need the approval of the owner of the songs. Whenever you want to use the audio files for something else than your private pleasure you need to get a license (ask a DJ, they need to have a license for every single song they are playing).
