What iTunes import settings do I want?

[verb1999]

(I did a search to find results, didn't find any. I also searched iTunes' help, but was unable to figure out what to set a few things at)

I am a current Zune user, but it's battery doesn't hold it's charge very well anymore, so I'll probably cash in the warranty before it's up this October. I can no longer get a 120 gig Zune at Best Buy (the only thing they have in stock is a 32 or maybe 64 gig Zune HD), so if I want to continue to have this much storage, I'm forced to switch to iPod classic. Which I'm not fully opposed to, except for the fact that my file names read differently when loaded into iTunes, so it's going to be a grueling process reorganizing/reimporting a bunch of my files... Ouch. Not looking forward to that.

Anyways, all other anecdotes aside, iTunes' import settings seem to be more complex than Zune's, and I'm having trouble what to set a few options at. I'm confused about the following:

First of all, it asks me "Import using: AAC Encoder, AIFF Encoder, Apple Lossless Encoder, MP3 Encoder or WAV Encoder. I assume the AAC, AIFF, and Apple lossless are all Apple files, like Microsoft uses WMA files? And wouldn't be able to be used in non-Apple software? What is my best option here, MP3 since an MP3 file is pretty universal?

I'll start there, and after that question is answered, I'll ask anything else I'm still curious about.

Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to help out, your input is very appreciated.

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[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

if your songs are wavs...same em as wavs

if they are mp3s are 320k then put your settings as 320k

if most are 128/192 you should stick to that setting.

I woult NOT make them apple lossess or any only apple format. I have about 300 songs that are apple lossess and they work most of the time but sometimes they wont play on other peoples set up or have problems in general

 

[verb1999]

My songs are on CD's, I will be importing them to waves OR mp3's, or the other files listed above. I just don't know the pros and cons to each and what is most beneficial.

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

if you have the harddrive space...wav is the way to go, but its gonna eat harddrive space fast

id say do mp3s are 320k

if you think you gonna stay apple for a long time do apple lossless

 

[verb1999]

I really want to do lossless, but I'm not sure if space will be an issue. I have some 10,000 songs, currently using 84 gigs of space. (Some of my files are 192 constant bit rate WMA's, before I switched to best quality variable bit rate [240-355 Kbps] WMA's) Do you think 10,000 songs of lossless files + all the CD's I get between now and forever, will use up 160 gigs quickly? I'm not too concerned about the distant future as technology changes every day, but i'd like to be set at least for a long haul...

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

85 gigs + about how many cds?

a cd at 320k will take about 100-125MB for a full cd. so roughly 1/8 of the original CD.

I say 320k is optimal for everyday listening.

 

[verb1999]

How many CD's, well I have easily 1,200-1,400 or more. A lot of them are CD singles, a few EP's, not all are full length CD's. Although some are double discs, so. Overall, I think I have about 15,000+ songs. Like some 18,000. But I have 2 music folders, and only load one at a time, and swap it about every 6 months. And the one has roughly 10,000 songs, the other like 7,000.

I suppose I could get away with 320k easily, but if lossless was that much better that it was noticeable, I'd want to go that rout if space would allow.

I listen on 6 Boston Acoustic's (4x6 plates, 6.5's & 1 inch tweeters) and 2 10" Kicker L7's. Meaning, I am an every day listener, but I'm not your every day person, just listening on stock speakers. Sound quality is definitely of concern.