Paddy, if you have a 200 MHz PC or better I believe that Real Jukebox from www.realaudio.com is available as Freeware. You have to wade through a lot of crap to find the free version.

Real Audio.com does not have a monopoly on producing RA encoders, even if it appears to be the case. You will find others at zdnet.com (Downloads) but I've not used any myself. Regards, John