iTunes is relatively easy to use. The first choice you'll have to make is: which audio format ?
iTunes (as of version 4.7.1.30) supports the following formats: AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, MP3, WAV. For the sake of brevity, we'll only consider two of these here: AAC and MP3. Indeed, if you want excellent quality while keeping reasonable file sizes, you'll opt for MP3 or AAC. If you want the best possible quality, you'll go for Apple Lossless or WAV, at the expense of file size.
So, AAC or MP3 ?
If your only audio device is the iPod, you don't need cross-platform compatibility. You can go for AAC.
If you use a variety of devices, you may prefer MP3.
Use the Edit > Preferences > Importing dialog:
In that dialog box, select "AAC encoder" and use the "High Quality" setting (128 kbps).
Don't forget to select "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs" option.
You can use an even higher quality by selecting the "Custom..." setting and chosing a higher bitrate (like 160, 256 or even 320 kbps).
Please note that the sample rate should be left at 44.100 kHz, since it is the native sampling rate for Audio CDs.
Use the Edit > Preferences > Importing dialog:
Select the "MP3 Encoder" and the "Custom..." setting. On the next dialog box, use the following settings:
Again, you can go for an even higher quality by selecting a bigger bitrate (192, 256 or 320 kbps) and/or the "Highest" quality setting.
iTunes works great, however there are some limitations to what it can do in terms of audio compression. For example, it doesn't support VBR (Variable Bit Rate) for AAC. And, you cannot use other audio encoders than the ones embedded in the program.
Fortunately, there are other solutions. The good news is, they involve only free software. And, did I mention your audio files will be properly tagged with information about Artist, Album, Title, Track and so forth ?
The first thing you need is an audio extraction program. Enters EAC (Exact Audio Copy). You can download it from its home site. The program is very powerful and has many parameters. A very detailed tutorial can be found there. Another good one can be found there. Others can be found using Google.
The second thing you need is an audio encoder. For AAC, I use FAAC (Freeware Advanced Audio Coder), which can be found there (you'll be looking for FAAC 1.24+ binary for Windows, under "AAC Encoders"). Make sure you use version 1.24+ or above, as early versions were (in)famous for bad quality. For MP3, I recommend LAME (Lame Ain't an MP3 Encoder - how's that for a recursive definition ?), which can be found there (you'll be looking for LAME MP3 Encoder 3.96.1 Stable).
If, for some reason, you can't find some or all of these files, here are local copies (but they may not be the latest versions available): EAC / FAAC / LAME.
Assuming you're now familiar with setting up and configuring EAC (if you're not, please refer to one of the tutorials), the dialog boxes that need your attention are:
EAC > Drive Options > Extraction Method:
Make sure you select the Secure Mode. Cache and C2 options may vary, depending on your drive.
EAC > EAC Options > Extraction:
These are the settings that work for me. Make sure you select the "High" setting for Error recovery quality.
First, make sure the Use external program for compression option is NOT checked in the EAC > Compression options > External Compression tab.
Then, use the following settings.
In EAC > Compression options > Waveform:
You may have a more recent version of LAME, though (like 3.97 or above).
In EAC > Compression options > Waveform:
The result of these two sets of parameters is to use VBR (Variable Bit Rate) encoding, ranging from to 128 to 256 kbps, with an average of 160 kbps.
You'll want to have your audio files properly tagged with information. This is set up with the EAC > Compression options > ID3 Tag dialog:
By selecting both ID3 V1 and V2 tags, you ensure compatibility with a wide range of devices.
Actually, we're not going to create .aac files, but .m4a files.
Here is the trick. In the EAC > Compression options > External compression dialog, use the following settings:
An important parameter is the Additional command line options, which should be:
-q 150 -w -o %d --artist "%a" --title "%t" --album "%g" --year "%y" --track "%n" --genre "%m" %s
The "magic" option here is the -w parameter which, according to the FAAC help file, tells faac.exe to "wrap AAC data in MP4 container". You can adjust quality (up or down) by playing with the -q parameter, but 150 should give excellent results. Going above 150 would be overkill.
Once you have ripped and encoded a CD to a series of audio files stored into a folder, you just need to use the File > Add Folder to Library... from iTunes to add these files to your Music Library. And, whether you have chosen to create MP3 or M4A files, the tags will find their way to the proper fields in your music database!
Lionel Ancelet
Note: I'm sharing this information as a service to other audio enthusiasts. Comments are welcome, but for general questions on iTunes, EAC, FAAC or LAME, please refer to online forums such as Hydrogenaudio or similar ones.
Created : February 25th, 2005 - Last updated : February 27th, 2005.