I've got about 200 CD's that I'd like to copy and catalog to my computer.  What is the best way to go about this?   I know there are programs like Windows Media Player, ITunes, Winamp etc.  Are there others?  Which program is the most user friendly?  Suggestions?

Thanks!

It depends on what you want really. If you want super easy software that your grandma could use there are programs for that. If you want the most accurate rip to preserve quality the standard used to be Exact Audio Copy. You can use it to rip to a lossless format if you have the hard drive space or you could use LAME compression for mp3s set to a high variable bitrate to preserve as much as possible. Foobar 2000 was the preferred music player. It has been a few years since I have been in the audiophile hobby though so the "standard" may have changed.

iTunes will certainly do that job.  But it really depends on what software you are used to, or what you will use for listening, etc.

Just stay away from itune's own proprietary file format otherwise you will have an itune only directory of music - which will suck when you outgrow the limited capability of itunes,  



 

I'm old school and still think Winamp offers the best tools for managing a large music library.
I have nearly 50,000 albums in my digital library and Winamp works great. I find iTunes to be "clunky".

spotify dot com

Who keeps their own files anymore?

Im full apple products so I use iTunes. I like the way it organizes my music. I used iTunes long before I went full apple. Heres a screen shot of my iTunes. Thats just the 1st few rows and you cash see it even shows the album art.