Andy Ihnatko, of MYDL.me, on choosing the bit rate and file format to use when importing a CD collection:

“Before I did The Big Rip, I ripped a dozen different discs from all kinds of genres at a multitude of settings. In the end, I settled on 256K bitrate MP3, fixed bitrate, as my format of choice.

I’m convinced it gives me the fewest compatibility issues (I had a problem with variable-bitrate tracks on certain streaming devices) and the highest quality audio in a reasonable file size.

I chose MP3 because I couldn’t really hear the difference between an MP3 and an AAC file ripped at the same settings, and I didn’t think the savings in storage was profound enough to overcome MP3’s still-superior acceptance.

I chose 256K because I could easily sense the difference between 192K and 256K bitrate, but I had a hard time detecting improvements in any superior bitrates. Given that my usual music player is a 16 gigabyte iPhone and I dock it every day for fresh content, there’s little need for me to overboard in the pursuit of small files.”

What’s my take?  It is pretty similar to Andy’s.  However, I rip CDs into iTunes at 256K AAC, as opposed to 256k MP3.  I use AAC because it theoretically is superior to MP3, has a slightly smaller file size, and given every device I use can support AAC, I didn’t feel as strong as he did regarding potential compatibility issues.

On the bit rate question, I got to 256K for almost the same reasons he explains.  A couple years ago I did “The Big Rip” at 192K AAC.  At the time I figured it was a good compromise between the higher quality of 256K and the smaller file size of 128K.  Since then, storage of course has gotten cheaper but even more importantly for me, I really began to notice the difference in sound quality when I listened to a 128K or 192K file as compared to a CD, so I’ve been ripping at 256K for a couple months now.

So yes… I have a “Big Re-Rip” coming to get me 100% 256K AAC.  Put that on the someday / maybe list.

After writing about Genius Playlists, I thought it would be good to talk about some simple tips for building better Smart Playlists in iTunes.  The first step for creating great Smart Playlists is to start rating your music, so I am going to walk through the system I use to rate my songs.

One of my core beliefs behind how to best manage your iTunes library is that while we all probably have acquired a lot of music in our iTunes libraries over the years, there really is no value in keeping music that we do not want to listen to or have flowing through a playlist.  I know that sounds completely obvious, but this is the opposite of what most people I know do.  For whatever reason, many people take pride in hording all types of music in their iTunes library even if they have no intention of playing it.  The end result is their Smart Playlists end up sounding not so smart, and they skip through the contents until they eventually get to the songs they like.

A second belief is that you really never need to get more granular than rating a song as “good”, “really good”, or “great.”  Anything more than that is just overkill.  This rating system takes both of these factors into account, so here it goes:

• 0 stars – This one is simple but important.  A 0 star song has never been rated.  I make this distinction because sometime people use 0 stars to indicate a horrible song.  I do not.  Again, if a song is that bad it should not be in your library.  For me, 0 stars means the song is unrated.

• 1 star - Delete it.  This really isn’t a rating, but instead is a technique to use the 1 star rating as a flag.  As I listen to music, I will occasionally hear songs I want to prune out of my library because I do not like them, they have poor sound quality, or for any number of other reasons.  Marking these songs with a single star is an easy way to tag them.  Once you start doing this, you can create a smart playlist called “To Delete” which only contains songs that are rated with one star.  Then periodically you just check the playlist and delete the songs that are in it.  Done deal – library is cleaned up.

• 2 stars – This is a song that has a reason to be in your library but you would never want on a playlist.  A common way I use this in my library is for what I would call transition songs that have a place when you listen to an album as a whole, but you would never listen to by themselves.  For the Who fans out there, Tommy has a handful of 2 star songs that advance the story, but you would not want on a random playlist.  Two examples from the album: “There’s a Doctor” and “Miracle Cure.”

• 3 stars – At this point, we are entering the “good songs” territory.  A 3 star song typically is what I would call an album track.  These are songs that are good, but not great, and you might have because they are part of an album / CD, but they are not going to find their way onto a greatest hits collection anytime soon.  To continue with the Tommy analogy: “Cousin Kevin”, “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?”

• 4 stars – Really good songs, but not at the highest echelon.  On Tommy: “Sally Simpson”, “Smash the Mirror”, “Sensation.”

• 5 stars – Simply the best.  Again using Tommy as my example: “Amazing Journey”, “Sparks”, “Overture”, “Pinball Wizard”, etc.

This rating scheme provides support for building great playlists and really keeps it simple — there are no 1/2 stars or additional degrees of judgment here (and yes in case you were wondering, iTunes supports 1/2 star ratings although it is not obvious in the interface).

I would also advise that the best way to rate songs is to do it as you listen to them as opposed to blocking out a full day to work through your entire library.  If you try to do it in one fell swoop, it is simply not going to work – you will get burned out.  You will also avoid developing a massive guilt complex about seeing unrated songs if you have set your own internal mental expectations that it is a gradual process.

Rating songs is the basis for creating great Smart Playlists in iTunes.  In a subsequent post, I will talk about some ideas on how to leverage this rating scheme to build various Smart Playlists that should be in your library.