I like K3b as a CD ripping tool - but how do I change the encoding bitrate? I think it is offering me 128kbits for MP3s at present. I would like more! Any suggestions welcome.

try systemsettings -> multimedia -> audio cds -> mp3 encoder -> constant bit rate -> constant bit rate setting

or try one of these http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php/Au ... tent=77125 http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php/so ... tent=29024 or http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php/KA ... ent=107645

Thanks very much for quick response! I like the look of Audex.

This is default:
lame -r --bitwidth 16 --little-endian -s 44.1 -h --tt %t --ta %a --tl %m --ty %y --tc %c --tn %n - %f
You can modify as you like.

Settings -> Configure -> Plugins -> External codecs -> mp3

http://www.pl.image-share.com/ipng-89-121.html

I hope, that this is this...

I know this is an old topic, but thought I'd comment just in case someone can make use of this later...

Using K3b Version 2.0.2 on Kubuntu 12.4, I have to first select the Rip Audio CD from the More Actions button. Then I have to click the "Start Ripping" button.
From there, I can click the wrench icon beside the Mp3 (Lame) option in the settings tab.
Once the dialog box opens up, I highlight the entry for Mp3 (Lame) entry and select edit.
In the command line box, I replaced the -h switch with the -b switch with a value of 320 to encode with a constant bitrate of 320. (I could not get K3b to recognize the format of the --alt-preset insane or any of the predefined presets.)

lame -r --bitwidth 16 --little-endian -s 44.1 -b 320 --tt %t --ta %a --tl %m --ty %y --tc %c --tn %n - %f

The default command is:
lame -r --bitwidth 16 --little-endian -s 44.1 -h --tt %t --ta %a --tl %m --ty %y --tc %c --tn %n - %f

For an alternative to K3b, I have found that using Dolphin in Kubuntu 12.04,selecting the drive with the CD lists not only the tracks of the CD, but a number of folders which display the files and their sizes in different formats.

From there, It really is just a matter of dragging and dropping onto another drive/folder.

(I have > System Settings > Multimedia > MP3 Encoder settings at:
Encoding Method > Constant Bitrate (Stereo / Quality High) and the Constant Bitrate Settings at 320 kbs.)