[gr8fl4porsche]

You are correct that itunes uses aac by default - I forgot about that. I have read several test studies that challenge the belief that aac is near cd quality and sounds better than a properly endoded mp3. 128 acc vs 128 mp3 will most likely give the nod to acc but at higher bitrates, I would go with mp3.

I use EAC to rip, then compress using LAME set at 320kbps constant bitrate when making small files. To digitalize an entire cd collection - forget the mp3 or acc and just leave it in wav format.
Big hard drives are getting cheap.