Xing Codec
Software name: AudioCatalyst
DL: 1
The Xing codec is not as omnipresent as the others mentioned above, though it is well-known and does have some good features. Xing has a cool software of its own, called Xing Encoder, but it's not free. In fact finding free software that supports this codec is tough, especially a dedicated one. But AudioCatalyst 2.1 has a good enough trial version. Audiocatalyst is a comprehensive software, with a nice GUI and easily accessible functions. It is very fast, though the quality at 128 Kbits is not as good as LAME's. It comes with Xing MP3 player, which is a cool-looking, nifty job.
Blade Codec
This one is the best of the lot, and also the most professional. It was started by a single programmer (Tord Jannson), who was distributing the Blade encoder free as an executable file. Though currently available as a command line code, the original algorithm is based on ISO-specified code from Fraunhofer, so patent issues come in the way.
There's software to support BladeEnc though. CDex, Exact Audio Copy, Audiograbber and a few others all support it, so go ahead and try the versions. Paradoxical as it may seem, I would like to state that pirating music is wrong. I will also say that MP3s sound like crap when compared to the real recording, especially if the music is acoustically recorded, and has detail and depth.
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