dBpoweramp is my favorite music file conversion utilities.  You can convert virtually every known audio file type.  Staying in the theme of home recording, this utility is essential.  When you originally record your music it is in WAV format.  As you can guess these files grow extremely large quickly.  Using dBpoweramp allows you to convert your musical creations to compressed mp3 files.  You get a 30 day free trial so nothing to lose there.  It is not often I recommend "pay for" software but this is definitely worth it!

When installing you can choose to try out other features like AMG for accessing a disc's meta data.

After installation you just right click your WAV file and choose the format to convert to.  Many options are included.

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dBpoweramp is actually one of the few programs that actually will utilize both cores if you have a dual core CPU so ripping Compact Discs is a breeze.

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I have barely given this application justice with this post.  If you are a music connoisseur or looking for an easy way to convert your home recording files to mp3 you should download dBpoweramp!  dBpoweramp works great on both XP and Vista.  I look forward to hearing your experiences!