Software for CD Ripping

I recently thought that it might be a good decision to rip some of my favorite CDs to .wav files so I can put them on other devices and get the raw and loseless audio files. From what I understand, .wav or .flac is the best depending on how much storage space is at one's disposal, but apparently not all applications do things the same way. With all of that out of the way, I ripped the files using Windows Media Player, apparently that's one of the worse ways to do it, but no one really goes over/agrees about a good way to do it. I've heard a lot about Exact Audio Copy and dBpoweramp, but once again, no one seems to be sure what is what.

Does it even 'matter,' would the difference be that noticeable?

I'm not really an audiophile, so I'm not too concerned by fractions of frequencies missing, but I would like to preserve/store my music as best as I can.

Thank you!

Hello Bruce,
It's for keepsakes, I want to have the absolute best I can so I don't have to worry about how it will be dated with the progression of audio technology. Especially considering how the quality of discs can tend to degrade with time, if there's something I can do to mitigate this, why wouldn't I?

Upon looking back at it I did not answer your full set of statements.

Addressing your second points in the order they were presented:

Maybe I am a bit picky, a few years spent playing instruments gave me a bit of an ear for it. What I meant in my statement "I'm not really an audiophile" is that I am not expecting anything ridiculous, just asking what would give me the best short and long-term results, I don't believe that's an unusual or unreasonable request.

I transfer to .mp3 or .aac, or what have you when I need it on a portable media player or etc, but my primary listening experience is through a set of studio cans at my computer. That is where I can really hear the differences between something ripped well and slightly less so. In the car I agree, you listen to what you can, it's nice to have a quality sound, but that's not the primary concern here. What is my primary concern, is what happens a few years down the line when technology x has some revolutionary breakthrough in technology y and now music has clarity to an even greater level. I'd like to be ready for that, and I don't see any particular harm in it.

Is this the same software you were speaking of? https://winx-burner-master.en.lo4d.com/windows

(Something I've noticed is that any time you look up audio software, there are several dozen sites with pirated/cracked versions, I seriously doubt the legitimacy of said 'safe downloads')

I find it unsavory to use cracked software long term, besides that I have no idea if windows defender would pick up any of the junk that they hide in those places, the safety of my computer is not worth saving a few bucks.

That's fair, we each have different plans and resources, neither is wrong or right, just ways of doing something.

Tech is so unpredictable like that, one minute something looks impossible, and then next month it's old news. That's an exaggeration of course, but it's not too far off from the craziness we are in, isn't it amazing?

Hey Peter,

This looks just like WMP, I was thinking something that would do the job in a bit finer detail if possible.

Thank you

Update:

I have been considering dBpoweramp, does anyone have any experience with this? My main concern is the safety of the download, it seems fine but I want to double check if anyone else has any experience with it.