Free CD to MP3 Converter 5.6

Free CD to MP3 Converter is a small, frozen CD ripper from Eusing Software that still does the one job it was built for.

It pulls tracks off an audio CD and writes them out as MP3, WAV, OGG or WMA, and it will record from a microphone or line-in while it is at it.

One of its headline features stopped working years ago, though, and it is worth knowing which one before you install anything.

The Track Name Lookup No Longer Works

The original selling point was automatic naming. Put a disc in, and the program asked an online database for the artist, the album and every song title so you did not have to type them.

That database was freedb, and it shut down on 31 March 2020. The developer's own feature list still names freedb as the source and no release since has said otherwise, so what arrives now is a numbered list with nothing on it.

Successors such as GnuDB kept the same lookup protocol alive, which is why newer rippers still fetch names. There is no documented way to point this program at one of them.

What Still Works Perfectly Well

Ripping itself is the solid part. Tick the tracks you want, choose MP3, WAV, OGG or WMA, and the files land where you told them to.

You can set the bitrate and the channel count, pass extra options through to the bundled LAME encoder, and switch on volume normalisation so a mixed batch of discs comes out at one level rather than five.

The recorder captures from a microphone or line-in to WAV or MP3, and the built-in ID3 editor lets you correct title, album, artist, year and genre after the fact. Format-to-format conversion works too, so a folder of WAV files can become OGG or WMA without touching a disc.

About That Bundled Encoder

The single review on this page, left in 2012, complained that the included LAME build was already old. It has not been replaced since.

LAME itself reached version 4.0 in 2026 after nearly a decade of silence, so the encoder inside this program is several generations behind what is current.

For speech or casual listening you are unlikely to hear it. For anything you intend to keep, use a front-end that ships a current encoder, such as LameXP or winLAME.

Our news piece on LAME moving again after nine years covers what actually changed in the encoder.

The Other Two Complaints

The same reviewer raised two more points, and the first is still exactly true.

The installer gives you no choice of destination folder. It goes into Program Files, and there is no browse button to argue with.

The second was a problem changing the bitrate, described too briefly to pin down. If you run into it, say so in a review on this page so the next person knows what to expect.

One Feature Is a Museum Piece

The developer's feature list includes clearing the playlist of Windows Media Player and RealOne Player when neither is running.

RealOne Player stopped being a current product in the mid-2000s. That single line tells you roughly when this program's feature set was set in stone, and it is the honest context for everything above.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is the disc in your hand. If it is scratched, or if the rip has to come out bit-perfect, this is the wrong tool - it has no error correction and no way to verify what it read.

Exact Audio Copy is the free standard for accurate ripping, re-reading a damaged sector until two passes agree with each other.

fre:ac is the straightforward modern replacement - free, still updated, and it rips and converts in the same window.

CDex and Audiograbber are the other long-standing free names here, both fuller than this program and both dormant themselves.

dBpoweramp Music Converter is the paid all-rounder, and what the money buys is AccurateRip checking your rip against other people's rips of the same pressing. EZ CD Audio Converter is the other commercial option in the category.

FreeRIP and VSDC Free Audio CD Grabber sit in the same simple-and-free bracket as this one if you want a like-for-like swap.

If You Are Only Converting Files

Ripping a disc and converting files already on the drive are two different jobs, and the second one has better free tools.

MediaHuman Audio Converter and BatchEncoder both handle batches for free and are both still being updated.

Free WMA to MP3 Converter covers the narrower WMA case, and our own online audio converter does one file at a time in the browser with nothing to install.

If you are archiving a collection rather than filling a phone, rip once to lossless with the FLAC tools and make MP3s from that copy whenever you need them.

The Recorder Is a Bonus, Not a Reason

Recording from a microphone or line-in to WAV or MP3 is genuinely handy for a quick voice memo. There is no editing, no noise removal and no second track.

Audacity does all three for free, and it is the obvious step up the moment the recording matters to you.

More rippers and converters sit in the Audio Encoders category.

Quick questions

Download Free CD to MP3 Converter 5.3 if you still need it, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.