For my purposes I am looking for a combination of moderate audio quality and a minimum of audio glitches, but would also also like to make use of the CDDB to auto-enter basic info (artist and track title for me) so I don't have to do it manually for each track. (I use them to layout favorite cuts for personal use and the occasional gift CD.) I've used some standard mass-market products like Musicmatch in the past but seem to get more glitches than I'd like. From what I've read here and on the Radified site (written by someone who certainly seems to know what he's talking about), EAC sounds like a good option to rip but does it access and load CDDB info when you rip?. I'm also not completely straight on how many steps I'd be adding to the process if I were to "upgrade" this process for better quality? (Ripping, tagging, coding, etc.) Like many things, it's a balance between convenience, flexibility and quality.

Kevin
Raleigh, NC

Yes, EAC does access and load CDDB info when you rip. For a lot of people it's the best option to get 100% safe extraction, especially if the CDs are suspected to be damaged.
Another option is Cdex: it is very easy to use.

Actually, most, if not all, rippers (even the worst) load CDDB info. Ripping, tagging and coding are done in just one step, on the fly.

edit: if you decide to use EAC, I suggest you read the FAQ: links to tutorials are included there as well as other precious information about encoding.