CDex (freeware, www.cdex.n3.net)
All-in-one ripper which includes the LAME encoder. Better than Xing... personally, I encode 192kbps High quality, but setting a 16KHz cut-off @ 128kbps will speed things up no end for those with slower processors.CoolEdit 96 (limited indefinite evaluation, here)
Can be evaluated for as long as you want - you just can't access all of the features at a time. This really isn't a big deal if you just want to trim WAVs and apply fades, denoise recordings, etc. This release has been superceded by a 30-day trial version - it's the old download you want. (note: I now use commercial software for audio editing.)DivX Codec (freeware, www.divx.com)
MPEG-4 compression for video. Now contains no legacy M$ code, and also plays movies made with the 3.xx hacks, with increased quality. A truly professional and amazing product.mp3DirectCut (freeware, www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~pesch)
Allows you to visually identify silence or defect within MP3s and amend them or trim portions. Somewhat supercedes mp3Trim.mp3Trim (freeware, www.mp3trim.cjb.net)
Handy for trimming commentary or silence off ripped and encoded MP3 tracks. 'Nuff said.VirtualDub (freeware, www.virtualdub.org)
Flexible effects processing and video capture utility for producing and mastering AVI content. Released under the GPL. Not an AVI editor, more a competent collection of tools, but amazing freeware.WinAmp (freeware, www.winamp.com)
Still my favourite skinnable MP3 player, it turned freeware in 1999. For more information on WinAmp, MP3 and plug-ins, see this page.