I think you should give it a try. It's free. It also add's functionality to windows for encoding and id3 tag editing ( tag editing with powerpack addon). The windows functionality that I used to use all the time for my rio 600 was right clicking on the mp3's I wanted to lower the quality on, usually 192k -> 96k so I could fit usually 2 cd's on it and then selecing "convert to" -> which format/codec (MP3/LAME) -> then you would select your quality and type of bitrate (CBR/VBR) along with some other options if needed, more with the powrpack installed.

Cd ripping is just as easy by bringing up DMc audio cd input, it detects yuor cd and downloads the cddb info automatically, you can then just click the rip button if have already set your default settings or "rip with options" to change them right then .... while ripping you can also select the cpu priority it uses ..great for when I don't need to be using my computer and just set it on highest.