How to Import CD Tracks to iTunes

Perhaps the most cherished acquisition of any one who is seriously into music is his or her stack of songs and music videos, stored in the form of CDs and DVDs. Although one of the most dependable of storage mediums, CDs and DVDs have a limited shelf life and with prolonged use, they become unreadable after a point. A simple solution to this problem is ripping your music and storing it in digital form on your computer hard drive. You can do this using the Apple iTunes program. This Buzzle article is a short tutorial on how to import CD tracks to iTunes 10 library in MP3 or other iPod compatible formats. The procedure for ripping music from DVDs is the same. By following the stepwise instructions provided below, you can back up your entire music CD collection to your iTunes library and enjoy listening to all those tracks on your Apple iPhone or iPod.

The Apple iTunes program is truly marvelous, considering the range of applications it offers. It works seamlessly with almost all Apple gadgets. Still, its prime function is management of music and other media. Among its many features, it comes with a built-in audio encoder that can be used to rip music from CDs to the iTunes library. Let us see how it works.

Importing CD Tracks to iTunes Library

Firstly, you will need an updated version of iTunes itself. In case you don't have it or have an older version, download the latest version (Apple iTunes 10) for free, from the Apple website. Once you have downloaded and installed it on your PC or Mac, you are ready to begin the CD ripping. Obviously, you will need a CD or DVD ROM drive to copy data from the disks.

Step 1: Choose Audio Encoder & Format
As mentioned before, the iTunes program has audio encoders. Before you begin ripping songs to form CDs, you need to program iTunes and set the audio encoding format for the tracks, as well as the audio quality. To set the audio encoding properties, go to Edit → Preferences → General (Tab). At the bottom of the tab, you will see a button marked - 'Import Settings'. Click on the button to open a window that lets you change settings.

In that window, you will have to select a type of encoder. Either choose MP3 encoder or AAC encoder. The latter is even superior to MP3 format, offering richer sound. Files created according to both encoders are compatible with iPhone and iPod. Once you select the encoder type, choose the audio quality. If you choose AAC encoding, select 256 kbps as the audio quality and if you are going for MP3 encoding, select the audio quality to be 192 kbps. Once the settings are selected, click on the 'Ok' button to save changes and quit. Close the general tab window too. Now you are all set to rip the music tracks.

Step 2: Insert CD in Optical Drive & Begin Import
Let iTunes stay open on screen. Now insert the audio CD, which will be automatically read by iTunes. Once the CD has been recognized and the tracks read, they will be displayed in iTunes. A list of all tracks will be displayed in front of you, from which you can select the ones which you want ripped to iTunes library.

Once the selection is finalized, just hit the 'Import CD' button provided at the bottom of the window, on the right hand side. Immediately, the conversion and transfer will begin with its status displayed above. On successful conversion and transfer, all the tracks will be added to your iTunes library.

Step 3: Transfer Songs to iPod or iPhone
Once the transfer to iTune library is complete, the tracks will be accessible under the Music tab of iTunes. Connect your Apple iPhone or iPod to your computer, select the songs you want transferred and simply drag and drop them into the transfer window. You may also sync the iTunes library with the music collection on iPod or iPhone to transfer the songs.

Very few people are aware of this audio ripping facility that Apple iTunes provides to import CD tracks. Now that you know how to do it, go ahead and encode all your tracks in MP3 format and get them transferred to your computer's hard drive. Once converted and transferred, you can easily listen to these songs, on your Apple iPod, iPhone or iPad on the go.