I haven't tried your method, so I'm not which is more elegant or less error-prone, but this is what I do:
- Disable Auto-Import.
- Rip to a temporary folder.
- In MC, select the target tracks and use Find & Replace to change the filename extensions (e.g., from .mp3 to .ape).
- In an external file manager, ensure the filenames are identical, and replace the target files with the new ones.
- In MC, Update Tags (from Library) then Update Library (from Tags).
- When finished, enable Auto-Import.
I use
Directory Opus in a source/target split view to do step 4. The same thing can be done using two instances of Explorer. Dragging and dropping the source files to the destination not only means there's nothing to "clean up." Failure to notice a file name is not identical will simply result in duplicate track in the destination folder. To correct, drag the larger file (which will be the actual ape file) back to the source folder, edit the name and move it back (to replace the original). It is important, of course, to check the destination folder for such duplicate tracks.
I rarely run into this, but if the filenames cannot easily be made identical, it would be easier to reduce them to just track numbers. Once sure the tracks match up properly (i.e., the track numbers are identical), use
Rename, Move & Copy Files to change the filenames to
[Track #].ape. Use MC to do the same for the source files, accessing them via
Drives & Devices > Explorer. Then do steps 4 & 5. When done, use
Rename, Move & Copy Files to change the filenames to their usual form (e.g.,
[Track #] [Name]).