There are some threads in the FAQ forum of this BBS on that very subject. Read through those FAQs, they will help.
The choice of ripper/encoder/bitrate is a very personal one, I'll leave that up to you and reading the FAQs.
The important thing is: FILL OUT YOUR TAGS AHEAD OF TIME. Including all of the correct artist/album/year information. Read the FAQs on this. Make sure you don't have any confilicting V1/V2 tags. MP3 Tag Studio will help with this.
The next thing is to organize the files so that they include the track number as part of the windows file name. That way, you can drag and drop them in the correct album order without having to fiddle with them after you've dropped them onto Emplode.
The next thing is to organize your MP3s into folders on the PC's hard disk, in such a way so that each folder represents a playlist. Then a single drag-and-drop will put your whole music collection onto the Empeg and the folder names become the playlist names. The playlists are freeform, they can be any names or structures you want, but most folks go with artist/album, or perhaps style/artist/album.
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Tony Fabris