I just got a new Zune 120, and discovered that the following settings work pretty well for converting/ripping videos for viewing on the Zune 120. These setting may also work on the Zune 80 and earlier because I am not using the h.264 codec.

I am primarily converting Xvid content, but as long as you have the K-lite codec pack, you should be fine with other content — in theory at least :) .

(This is for Handbrake 0.9.3)

  • Output settings: M4V file, Large file size, web optimized are unchecked.
  • Picture Settings: Crop=Automatic, Size=Don’t change, Anamorphic=Strict, Filters unchecked or none.
  • Video: Codec=MPEG-4 (FFmpeg), Framerate=Same as source, 2-Pass=unchecked, Target Size=empty, Avg bitrate=1200
  • Audio: source=Automatic (unless you know better…), codec=AAC, Mixdown=Stereo, Samplerate=48, Bitrate=160

Now, this works for me, and I have not done extensive testing. Your mileage may vary.

I created a preset that can go in the Handbrake installation directory, in the file “user_presets.xml”.

It looks like:

  1. <Preset>
  2. <Level>0</Level>
  3. <Name>Zune 120</Name>
  4. <Query> -t 1 -c 1 -f m4v -p -e ffmpeg -b 1200 -a 1 -E faac -B 160 -R 48 -6 stereo -D 1 -v </Query>
  5. </Preset>

The above would have to be pasted under the root node of the user_presets.xml file along with any other custom presets you may have.

Good luck!