This is a sporadic problem where I'll be putting CDs into the drive and clicking the Import button when the alert box pops up from iTunes. At some point iTunes doesn't complete the Import task, but rather the the CD disappears from the navigation panel altogether. I then have to manually eject the CD, then reinsert it, at which point I again click the Import button--this time it works. Bottom line: I have to put a CD in twice before I can rip it. Lame.
And by best I mean the sweet spot between sound quality, size and future proofing? This hits on the thorny issues of codec choice, ripping and normalization software, and file management.
I'm interested in the process of ripping, too. There are some albums and songs I may want to rip as lossless *too* for archival purposes since I want to get rid of all these dustry CDs. ITunes isn't super flexible on that front.