I do believe that media player only converts to WMA file format.

The best program by far for ripping mp3s from a cd is AudioGrabber.
if you want this to run properly you will have to get it from a warez irc channel or from Kazaa. From kazaa it comes with the LAME encoder, but if you get it another way you may have to download LAME too.

This allows you to copy at bitrates from 32 - 320 kbps.

with audiograbber you can also select your audio settings such as dual stereo, mono, etc etc. great program