okay so far all I know of being the easiest would be ripbot264. how well does the latest version encode?(quality?)(speed?)

I know there are other ways, but if it involves a laundry list of steps I usually try to avoid those as Im not an expert with encoding.

I found this guide for ripbot264 but it seems kinda old and hes doing alot more steps than you need to right? (cant ripbot264 go straight to mkv from an evo file unencrypted?) http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032870795

thanks. also I have an old audio receiver that only supports dts audio. so keep that in mind. this will be for my htpc I just built so mkv compatibility not a big concern.

video is going over hdmi to 1080p sweetness plasma 50"
audio is going over fiber optic.(dts only)