What are the best import settings for iTunes - AAC 160 / AAC 192 / MP3??

I was using Apple Lossess to import because I thought that it was the best option for sound quality, but I find that my iShuffle will not allow songs because I get a pop-up window saying the file is too large ... Thanks - I guess it is another problem that does not allow me to import songs to my iShuffle.

WHAT ARE THE BEST IMPORT SETTINGS CONSIDERING SIZE AND QUALITY?

5 people will give you 7 different answers.
Apple default is 256 kbps AAC w/VBR.

That's what I use (and most likely the majority of others since it is default they would have no idea how to change it).

If you really want (to waste time 😉 ) the best for you, get a few of CDs with really different music (classical, heavy metal/grunge, jazz, slow, loud, etc.) and RIP each one several different ways and compare.
Pick whatever sounds best to you.

Rachael Allen wrote:

WHAT ARE THE BEST IMPORT SETTINGS CONSIDERING SIZE

MP3 at 32 kb/s

AND QUALITY?

One of the lossless formats: WAV, AIFF, or Apple Lossless.

Seriously, most people nowadays use 256 kb/s, and the preference of Mac users is AAC. Unless you want to do more research, follow Chris's suggestion and use the default.

Personally I've started ripping everything Apple Lossless. That way I hope I never have to rip again.

I used to rip 320 mp3. I couldn't tell the difference between 320 mp3 and lossless, but, one day I might be able to - big maybe. But since disk price is not likely to go up, I figured I'd rip lossless from now on "just in case."

Probably few, if any, people could tell the difference between 256 AAC and lossless (I've done it at 192, but never at 256, and I have not bothered trying again recently - there might be a song out there where I could hear the difference, hence ripping lossless from now on - my time costs more than disk space . . .)

256 AAC is a pretty safe bet, unless you need mp3 compatibility, then use 256 (or 320) mp3.

I started using Apple lossless because that is what the guy at the HiFi shop used and what he was playing for me through very high end equipment was sounding great. I am going for a like setup. Playing Itunes lossless ripped song -> V-Dac digital to analog converter via USB cable -> Denon receiver via RCA cables. I am still experimenting with A-B comparison between that and an Ipod hooked straight to the receiver.
I doubt I could tell the difference between AAC and lossless on the Ipod alone.
I plan on ripping everything from now on using loseless. I have a 1 TB hard drive.

I was hoping to find in the forum exactly what lossless does versus WAV encoder. I think lossless is supposed to be bit for bit.

rickwyler wrote:

I was hoping to find in the forum exactly what lossless does versus WAV encoder. I think lossless is supposed to be bit for bit.

WAV and AIFF are "uncompressed lossless" formats. They match bit-for-bit the audio on a standard CD, i.e. 44/16 2-channel PCM stereo.

FLAC and Apple Lossless are "compressed lossless" formats. They capture all the audio content of the original, but store it more compactly.

AAC and MP3 are "lossy" formats. They achieve even smaller sizes by stripping out certain frequency combinations by the use of psychoacoustic algorithms.

First, what sort of playback devices will you be using?

Second, don't use AIFF or other uncompresses formats.
Use Apple Lossless or FLAC formats for full fidelity. They
basically work like Zip or any other data compression scheme
saving exact data duplicates in a compact format. Usual
size reduction is ~1/2 CD size.

The down side of this, some dedicated music players can
only play back the lossy forms of audio compression (AAC,MP3,etc.),
so you won't be able to use that.

If you want to save more space, rip to ACC/320kbit and compare
on your best playback device to the CD. If you can't tell the difference,
then go with this compression. It will typically reduce the CD size by ~1/4.

Rip to Apple Lossless. This means you don't lose any information on the original CD. It is possible to hear the difference, even with just a decent set of headphones. If you rip your CD into a lossless format, you can always convert it to another lossless format, or burn a CD without degrading the information. If you decide to invest in some good audio equipment, you won't have to go back and re-rip your CD collection, like I did.

I was looking for answer on this subject. Still bewildered on what is best for both listening to imported music in iTunes through some good quaility computer speakers and .... which also allows song from my itunes library to be put on an iShuffle or iPod ?

Thanks

Apple lossless is the "best" option in your case because you can preserve all of what is on the CD, and your iPod (via iTunes software) can compress music on the fly to squeeze it onto your iPod, if you want to do it that way. In other words, you have nothing to lose, except for some computer hard drive space, with Apple lossless. (Apart from this, every lossless format is an equally good option. FLAC, for example, is another option, but the main problem is iTunes won't recognize it. But since it is lossless, you can convert back and forth with an application like XLD without loss of information.)

after i started using apple lossless i could swear the cd's i burn sound better on the stereo in my pickup. i know people say you can't tell the difference, and it may be i used better cd's or something, but it sounds better to me and that's all that matters.

started using apple lossless i could swear the cd's i burn sound better on the stereo in my pickup.

Because they are better. When you RIP to lossless, audio quality is the same as the original CD. Burning an audio CD will result in identical quality to the original CS.

i know people say you can't tell the difference

I've never heard anyone say this.

Eric Willie wrote:
Thanks .... do the songs still remain in my Library then as Apple Lossless ( best sound ) when they are converted for the iPod ? or do they get converted as well ?

The feature " convert higher rate songs to 128" creates new smaller versions "on the fly," and syncs them to the iPod. It does not modify the copy in the library.

You're talking about ripping your own CDs, right?

If it's just iTunes (in other words, not LAME or something like that) then AAC, if you want to save some space but do not want to lose too much of the sound. Sure, full size files and Lossless are always better, but they are bigger and take up more room.
Also - MP3 in iTunes DO NOT support continuous playback. So, if you had a remix album of Techno dance music or something like that, AAC is better as it won't create gaps between songs, but MP3 will do, even if you set it at a higher bit setting.

At least, that's how I understand it. Nevertheless, I rip mind to 320kb AAC, because I can still hear some sounds drop out or get distorted if I go much lower to 192 or something, especially these extreme-bass tracks with a lot of sound effects. I used to do 320kb MP3, but I got annoyed by the gaps between tracks of albums that were supposed to be continuous.

I've never downloaded songs from the iTunes store, so I don't know nothing about the DRM stuff and how all that works. I've always gone to Amazon for online purchase as well as CD purchases. The LAME encodes from Amazon are pretty good, and have no DRM.

In the iTunes software there is a checkbox that allows you to compress stuff on the fly. Did you try that?