# What is the best program to covert my cd's from .cda to mp3 to store on my computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886 "2004-04-02T09:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mcz6697](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@mcz6697](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcz6697)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/1 "2004-04-02T09:26:28Z")
What is the best program to covert my cd’s from .cda to mp3 to store on my computer? And, where can i get it? ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/2 "2004-04-02T11:27:02Z")
I use [CDex](http://www.cdex.n3.net/). Aside from being free, it has nice features. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/3 "2004-04-02T12:26:02Z")
Just to clarify: cda is not a Windows file format. You cannot copy a .cda file to your hard disk. CDA is a convention for Windows Explorer to show what tracks are on an audio CD. The data itself is in 44100/2/2 uncompressed and would be equivalent to an uncompressed WAV file and that is what it would be if transferred to your hard disk. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/4 "2004-04-02T12:37:45Z")
Another vote here for Cdex. ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/5 "2004-04-02T14:57:35Z")
If you’re just going to store them on your computer and not to an mp3 player, I’ve heard that ogg gives better results than mp3 at the same bitrate. Maybe an audiophile in the crowd can confirm or deny this (the Cdex program can do either format). ---
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/6 "2004-04-02T15:19:36Z")
I used winamp 5. If you’re connected to the internet it uses the cddb to look up your albums so you dont have to do all of the typing yourself. and i set it so that it put each album in a seprately named folder, and automatically made a playlist for me to use. Its quick, its easy, and you dont have to switch to another program to listen to your newly ripped albums. And its free, which is always a bonus. Just go to the winamp webpage. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/7 "2004-04-02T15:48:59Z")
Another vote for CDex. FYI, CDex now will convert to .ogg format if you so desire. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/8 "2004-04-02T16:47:14Z")
I used to use CDex, now I prefer Exact Audio Copy. Or if you’re using Windows Media Player to play them, i’d highly reccomend WMA. You can get the same sound quality in a 64 bit WMA file as a 128 bit MP3. Saves a lot of space. WIndows Media Player can do the WMA conversions for you. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/9 "2004-04-02T20:10:22Z")
I’ve used dbPowerAMP Music Converter (dMC) and I like it. The price is right, too. I can’t compare it to others though; its all I’ve ever used. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/10 "2004-04-02T20:20:37Z")
One _(and most likely the only one even if 200 people reply)_ vote for Music Match Jukebox (aka MMJB). IMHO of course…mainly because of the tagging flexibility. ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/11 "2004-04-02T21:44:52Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > One _(and most likely the only one even if 200 people reply)_ vote for Music Match Jukebox (aka MMJB). IMHO of course…mainly because of the tagging flexibility. Most people refer to this as ripping the CD so if you search for CD rippers you will find very tons of them. I also use MusicMatch Jukebox as I have found it to be an excellent all around music management application. It has great flexibilty as a ripper, it is a fine player and file converter and I also use it to burn music CDs as well as to print covers and labels. The freeware version does basic ripping and playing; you need the paid verision for the higher functions but I have found the paid version to be an excellent value. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-program-to-covert-my-cds-from-cda-to-mp3-to-store-on-my-computer/237886/12 "2004-04-02T22:11:38Z")
Yet another vote for Cdex. It’ll look up your Cd’s title and track names for you, it’s fast and most importantly, it’s free. I also recommend you ripp to .ogg you’ll get a better compression to quality ratio. If, later on you want to burn an mp3 cd, or transfer to an mp3 player, Cdex can recompress to mp3 format in a few minutes for you. You won’t need to do this with most modern CD writing software to make standard music Cd’s as most will now accept .ogg file types.