The noise probably is data. A lot of CDs now contain a little bit of ROM data at the end so they can add little multimedia programs that will run when you put the CD in your computer. An example of this is Sheryl Crow's "The Globe Sessions". There's a little program tacked onto the disc with lyrics, extra liner notes, and whatnot.

To delete unwanted parts from the intermediate .WAV file, use a wave editor such as CoolEdit before encoding the file. If you want to remove sections from the MP3 after it has been encoded, use MP3Trim.

You can also edit the MP3 file directly yourself if you like, if you're comforable with hexadecimal notation and you can use a binary editor such as UltraEdit. You can locate the headers of the individual frames and trim the file on those boundaries.

Enjoy!

-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.