ALO Audio CD Ripper for Windows

Stability problems and so-so performance make ALO Audio CD Ripper a just-adequate choice. In our tests, it turned in decent--but not mind-blowing--ripping speeds. It encodes tracks in WMA, WAV, OGG, or MP3 formats.

It can apply VBR compression when outputting to the latter two formats, and with MP3s it can apply high- or low-pass filters as well. Like any ripper worth its salt, it can query the Internet for track information, though it can't convert files among formats or burn CDs.

The interface has a slapdash look, and stability was a bit of a problem. On one of our Windows XP systems, choosing any of the options under the Settings button caused the program to report a missing DLL and crash. If you can avoid the bugs, ALO Audio CD Ripper makes a functional, albeit unimpressive, solution for digitizing your CD collection.