AAC, MP3, WAV and AIFF are all different formats, AAC and MP3 are both much smaller than the uncompressed WAV and AIFF files. The AAC and MP3 file format are designed for the internet and MP3-players, because they are much smaller in file size. iTunes can play all the files, so can your iPod. AAC and MP3 are comparable but AAC sounds better at the same bit rate than MP3, the lower the bit rate the lower the quality, if you choose to encode a song at a higher bit rate the file size will be bigger but the sound quality will be much better. WAV and AIFF files sound as good as the original song on your CD. iTunes converts all songs to 128kbps AAC as standard, which is a pretty decent compromis between quality and file size. If you want to change the file format you can click on the word iTunes next to the apple and go to preferences, click on Import, you can choose a file format and a quality. AIFF and WAV are the best but they are too big in file size to be used on a computer or a MP3-player, you can but it's not really worth it. MP3 files are compatible with all MP3-players and all windows computers, AAC files are better but they can only be played on some MP3-players as the iPod and some apps on the windows platform. If you choose MP3 as a format 128 kbps is about the lowest acceptable quality, but of course 160 kbps is better. The settings in your preferences will be used for the next songs you will import from a CD. Go to advanced in your menu bar if you want to convert a selection of songs in a certain format to the format specified in your preferences by choosing Convert selection to .... Select multiple files in your library by holding the command ( apple ) key on your keyboard.
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