Can anyone recommend me a tried and tested free converter, to get CDs onto an MP3 player, please?

Exact Audio Copy ?

iTunes set to VBR mode, not the best encoder, but probably the easiest

To do it properly, EAC in secure mode -> LAME MP3 Encoder (use LAME Drop for convenient drag drop)

Thanks, I’ll give them a go

Mediamonkey is a great free all round package – very similar to itunes, but less proprietary, less crapware installed with it, and, er… that’s it.

Mediamonkey is a great free all round package – very similar to itunes, but less proprietary

Show me the proprietary part of iTunes then. To save you the effort, there is none. AAC is MP4, the higher spec version of MP3, and a great many devices will play AAC/MP4. Of course, you could point out that both MP3 and MP4 are proprietary, and you’d be correct in that, but then Mediamonkey would be just as proprietary as iTunes, wouldn’t it? You might as well use iTunes, which is free, after all.