iTunes "Convert higher bit rate songs to AAC" option

[jon3543]

For years I tried using the iTunes option "Convert higher bit rate songs to AAC" but eventually gave up due to its horrible reliability in Windows. There was always a struggle with random files failing to convert, and my master playlist song count would always end up missing maybe 1% of the files it was supposed to have. There was nothing wrong with the files that failed to convert, as they would convert when part of a smaller master playlist. All those problems went away when I stopped using the option, which forced me to get a lot more selective about which files I put in my master playlist, because I have a large libary, much of it ALAC. I'm wondering if anyone uses this option and if it's improved over the last couple of years. I've been using a 128 GB iPhone 7 but am moving to a 256 GB 13 Pro. I'd like to convert to 256 Kbps AAC but don't want to fool with this again if it's just going to fail in the usual way. It started failing with my iPod Touch circa 2012, and it's been unreliable ever since. At some point, the device (iPod or iPhone) gets "poisoned", and the feature just won't work right afterwards.