I've been using MusicMatch since v3.something, and I've been very pleased with it. Take a look at www.musicmatch.com. The program has a lot of features I don't use, but it great for ripping. In the past I used 160Kbps, now i'm using VBR at 75%. (equals to about 192kbps higher when needed.) I think this is an OK setting. TommyE