For some reason as of this week whenever I add any type of file to a playlist in iTunes it converts it to a .WAV file. I don't want it to do that. I have already changed the encoding type in the menu.
MacBook Pro 15", 10.13
Perhaps you've omitted the relevant detail that you have a subscription to either iTunes Match or Apple Music. See About iCloud Music Library icons and status - Apple Support and enable the iCloud status column. I suspect that you will find that the .wav versions are still in your library and treated as the originals that have been uploaded to iCloud. The .mp3 conversions are treated as duplicates. If you try to add them to a playlist then the files aren't converted (again), but instead a reference to the original file is made so that your playlist remains eligible for sharing in iCloud Music Library.
tt2
HBM,
After you do the step "selected them and in the menu selected to convert them to MP3" iTunes will be sitting with two versions, the original in WAV and the newly created MP3. It sounds like you are being relatively careful, but are you sure the ones you are dragging into the playlist are the MP3s?
HBM,
What files are you starting with? How are you adding them? What are you seeing that makes you think iTunes is converting them?
I am taking an MP3 file and dragging it into a playlist. Once in the playlist I go to Edit/Song Info and go to the File tab, and it says it's a WAV file. This just started happening this week, it never happened before.
"Adding tracks to a playlist won't trigger a conversion."
Yet that is exactly what is happening.
Originally I dragged some WAV files into iTunes. Later I selected them and in the menu selected to convert them to MP3. I then can clearly see them in the "Recently added" menu, and when I check they are MP3 files. I then select them and drag them into the playlist I created. Then I go into that playlist and select the song and BAM it is a WAV file now. FYI, I have been using Apple products including iTunes since 1999 and this has never happened to me before. This just started about a week ago.
What is the source of the mp3 files? Perhaps their internal format doesn't match the file type implied by the file extension. Did you check in song info before adding to the playlist? Your encoding preference only applies to tracks you rip from CD or convert from their existing format. Adding tracks to a playlist won't trigger a conversion.
tt2
I add any audio file to a playlist it converts to .WAV
