IPod 60G: way to convert to lower kbps upon import??

Question

I was looking in the iPod help menu for a way to convert my iTunes tracks to a lower kbps upon import (as a way to maximize space). It looks like there is a "convert to lower kbps" button for iPod Shuffle; however, not one for iPod.
Anyone know if there is a way to get this done?? Would rather have my songs at 160 kbps on iTunes and then lower on iPod. The more songs the merrier, ya followin' me??

Answer 1

Itsmyvoodoo,
Welcome to the discussions. There is no option like that on the iPod Shuffle. However, there are ways to do what you want. Check out this repost I made in response to a user who had imported all her music as Apple lossless and had run out of room on her iPod:
"Apple lossless files are the biggest files you can import your music as. You have a couple options now. What you are going to need to do is convert the songs to a smaller file size like AAC. Under your import preferences, change the file type to the one you would like to convert your music too. Then, in library, sort your music by "Kind." If there isn't a "Kind" collumn at the top of your library, right click the "sorting bar" and select Kind. A collumn should appear. Click on it so that the arrow is either pointing up or down. See what file types your songs are. Are there any that are already in the format that you are about to convert to? If so, don't select those songs. Otherwise, select all the songs that are not the file type you would want (we'll say for discussion purposes that you chose AAC under the Import tab). Right click the selected songs, choose "Convert to AAC." iTunes will then copy and paste all the songs you selected into the new file format, AAC. Now, you have two options. If you have plenty of memory on your computer, I would choose Option 2.
Option 1:
You could delete all the music in the Apple Lossless format from your library and continue syncing the iPod automatically.
Pros: You don't have to change any of the settings you use to sync your iPod.
Cons: You delete the higher quality music. If you ever want to play your iPod through a stereo or high quality speakers, you won't have the high quality music to play.
Option 2
Make a Smart playlist (File>Make New Smart playlist). Choose "Kind" in the first drop down menu. Choose "Does Not Contain" from the next drop down menu. Then, type in "Apple Lossless." What this does is essentially create a seperate library for you; one that contains no lossless files. Now, depending on how many playlists you have, you may want to replace the songs in the playlists with AAC files, but if you don't have too many playlists with Lossless files, it should not be a problem. Next, connect your iPod. Go to File>Preferences>iPod Tab Choose automatically update selected playlists only. Then select all the playlists, including the smart playlists, you want to sync onto your iPod. This will sync all the files in your library, excluding those in the lossless format.
Pros: You get the best of both world. You have all the lossless files on your computer, and all the AAC files on your iPod.
Cons: You take up a lot of file space on your computer when you virtually duplicate your library.
Hopefully that wasn't impossible to follow. Try one of the options and see how much file space you save. Post back with any questions."
JC