I'm sure most of you have, but have you guys tried MusicMatch? I was one of the original beta testers back in, what, 1998? It was far ahead of the competition back then, and I think it has lost some ground but is still a well-intergrated app with a "decent" ripper (sure is fast), "decent" encoding if you know what to check (in the latest version), and a good library.

I actually use it mainly as a player and database now, using EAC/LAME to rip into my directory structure automatically.

I dunno what the restrictions are on the "free" version anymore, as I paid my $19 wayyyy back when and have lifetime upgrades.