How to Convert Audible .AA File Format to .MP3 Format.
I recently purchased Joe Vitale’s Attractor Factor (2nd Edition) from Audible.co.uk with the intention of using it on my Sony Walkman which plays MP3 files.
To download the audio I had to install Audible’s Download Manager and Media Manager which I found a bit strange as I thought MP3 audio files were MP3 audio files and could simply be downloaded and used as one desired.
After downloading the file I found that this was not the case. The download was one huge 92MB file with a .AA extension. Having worked in software development for over 25 years I was quite surprised to come across a file extension that I had not seen before. And before you ask, I did not get excited about it, just surprised.
Anyway, the next thing to do was to get the audio onto my Walkman, so I loaded the Audible Manager program and there it was; 1 huge 92MB 6 Hour 42 minute audio file. Where were the chapters?… was my first thought. I clicked around a bit but could not find the chapters and then thought that I was going off track.
You can add mobile devices to the Audible Manager so I clicked on the “Add New Device” Link and found that the program wanted to connect to Audible’s site to download a list of supported devices. So I clicked OK and a long list of devices came up. I thought “great”, the Walkman is most definitely going to be in there somewhere and I found only one relevant entry called “Sony Handhelds” which I thought was appropriate as my Walkman is a handheld.
I installed the Sony device entry and the device name appeared as “Sony CLIE Handheld”. Not knowing what CLIE was I simply assumed that it was some generic abbreviation for Sony handhelds.
I attached my Walkman to the USB port on my computer, clicked on the Sony CLIE Handheld device entry and waited for the available space pie graph in Audible Manager to show the available space. This did not happen. I tried clicking around Audible Manager a bit more but simply could not get it to “see” my Walkman.
So I thought I’d call Audible in the morning to see what I was doing wrong.
THE MORNING:
Sharply at 10:10am, shortly after Audible open their phone lines, I called the company and told them about my problem. As soon as they heard the word Sony Walkman, the support person’s voice got quite stern and said that THAT was the problem. Audible did not support Sony Walkman’s. Thinking this was quite odd as Sony Walkman’s are very popular, and trying not to be judgemental about what they supported, I told them that I specifically bought the audio to play on my Walkman and hence could I have a refund as the file was no use to me. That’s when the stern energy got stronger, and they said as I had downloaded the audio file they could not give me a refund but told me that I could write an audio CD of the file.
I wasn’t very happy about this as I only realised that the Walkman was not supported after I downloaded the file but according to Audible, that was that. I had to keep the file. They did give me a bit of advice – to contact Sony and ask them to let Audible support Walkman’s. Who’s business is Audible? Theirs or mine?
If I did not already know that I could convert a CD to MP3 format files then I would have really lost it with Audible as just before writing this article, I had a look at their site again and still can’t find anywhere on it that says they don’t support Sony Walkmans.
So if you’re having similar issues here’s the formula to convert Audible .AA files to MP3 files for free.
1) Make sure you have downloaded the .AA file onto your computer using the Audible Download Manager (I had v 6.6.0.0) and you have to install, if not already installed, the AudibleManager (I had v 5.5.0.0 ).
2) Install iTunes if you don’t have it installed already. ( I had v 8.0.1.11 )
3) Load iTunes, Go to the File Menu and click on “Add File to Libary” on the menu, then locate and open the .AA file.
4) Go to the “Recently Added” Menu item in the iTunes Playlists menu, and you should see your .AA file, perhaps with a cover thumbnail image. Click on it.
5) At the bottom right of the iTunes window you should see a Burn button. Click on it and you will see a pop-up “Burn Settings” box.
6) In the box, make sure you have “Audio CD” selected and then set any preferences you want for your Audio CD and then click the “Burn” button.
7) iTunes may say that you will be writing multiple CDs or words to that effect, simply agree and carry on.
8) Insert the blank CDs when iTunes requests them on the top message bar.
9) Once all the CDs have been written, download FreeRIP from http://www.freerip.com which is a Free CD ripping/conversion program, install and open it.
10) Now, as I had already set the encoding options on it which work great for me, I have simply put a snapshot of the settings below so that you can see what mine were compared to the default.
In FreeRIP go to the File menu, then Settings, then Options and click on the Encoding Tab and you should the default settings and mine are shown below.
NOTE: You may also want to go to the Output Tab and set where the MP3 files will be saved on your computer.
Once you have changed the settings, click OK.
11) Now simply insert each of your CDs and you will see the list of tracks appear in FreeRIP. Make sure they are all ticked and then go to the RIP menu and click on “Rip Selected Tracks to MP3″ and wait for the files to be converted and saved.
12) Repeat step 11 for each CD.
That’s it. If you have any feedback then leave a comment below.
Have fun.
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I have 88 Comments to the above Post:
Thank you so much! This indeed works. I tried using Goldwave and Tunebite but I could not convert .aa files to mp3. It occurred to me that I could rip any other CD – but didn’t try it until I read this.
Sure enough – this sequence works beautifully.
1. Load the .aa file(s) into Itunes
2. Burn them to CD
3. Rip them back to MP3’s or any other format with just about anything. I used EAC which is also free.
Unfortunately it costs you quite a few CDs just to get mp3’s. I canceled my audible.com membership and will buy further audiobooks from Amazon for less money and less trouble.
ReplyI just subscribed to the audible service and now I’m going to cancel the service, The reason why, I just ran into the same problem you did with my Walkman player. Thank you so much for the info you saved me lots of time
ReplyThank you ellwood and Miguel for your good words.
ReplyIn the digital age that we are living in and with the current use of mp3 file formats and sony walkmans, I really do find it very strange that such popular formats are not supported by Audible.
Thanks for your solution, but it seems a bit too complicated and complex for me to do. I too called audible.com and must have gotten the same curt operator who told me it was all SONY’s fault. Come on, why does audible.com, now owned by Amazon not want to come to terms wih SONY to sell their books. Both companies are childish and hurting their supporters. It’s time for them to allow SONY MP3s to download the books.
ReplyHi Ed,
I understand that the article is quite long and even though there are 12 steps – they are very precise steps which you will find that you can do some within seconds.
Once you have downloaded and installed the Audible, iTunes and FreeRip Software, it should only take about 5 minutes to start creating the CD’s and then only about 5 minutes maximum to start creating the MP3 files.
Give it a go when you have a spare half hour.
ReplySame exact thing happened to me. I only bought the Sony Walkman for 2 purposes – 1) to listen to audio books, and 2) to listen to the radio. If the audiobooks aren’t going to work I don’t know what to do. Should I return it? Or is there some other way I can download audiobooks onto this device? Also, Audible.com told me that when you turn the Sony off, it resumes at the beginning of the book; is this accurate? The associate told me that’s why the Sony isn’t a compatible device with them. I just don’t know who to believe!! Please help me if you can. Thank you.
ReplyHi Sheila,
There’s nothing wrong with your Walkman – it has been created to listen to music, audio books and in your case the radio.
It has been created to support one or more popular music formats such as MP3 but companies like Audible for some reason do not want to distribute their audio in MP3 format.
So, don’t return your Walkman, as you probably won’t find a better name than Sony, but make sure that when you buy audio books they are in CD format or MP3 format.
I’m not sure whether your Walkman supports the CD format, but with the FreeRIP software I mentioned above you can convert CD’s to MP3 format.
And yes, it may be true that when you switch off the Walkman, it may start at the beginning of the track. This is not really an issue apart from when audio books are created with only one file. So if you had an an audio book which was 3 hours long and in one file, if the Walkman started at the beginning when turning it back on then you would have to have remembered and forward to where you left off. This is nothing to do with your Walkman, it’s simply how and whether audio books or music are split into chapters which makes them easier to digest/listen to and forward or rewind to. Again this is to do with who created the audio book and nothing to do with your Walkman.
It’s a bit like having a CD with only one hour long track that you cannot skip to parts of. If that’s how it’s been created then yes you may have to start again when you switch on your device. With such an issue, you may want to download a music editing program such as Audacity at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
ReplyThank you so much for your simple and honest explanation. As a result, I will not return my Walkman and will be able to listen to audiobooks as planned. I appreciate your honesty and your time in clarifying this.
ReplySheila
Not a problem Sheile – Thank you for using the site.
ReplyBest Wishes to You and Yours.
Terrible – not only do I refuse to infest my PC with that worm of a program program iTunes, but who wants to burn 6 or 7 CDs, then rip 6 or 7 CDs, only to listen to an audio file that you already downloaded. Audible is garbage!
ReplyHi jl,
ReplyYes the thought of burning and perhaps wasting a few CD’s was not idweal especially as I simply wanted the MP3 file, but it was the lowest cost and only solution that I could find to do convert Audible files to MP3.
I can’t believe my luck! My experience was identical, with two exceptions. The book I had paid for and downloaded was Dawn French’s ‘Dear Fatty’ but I had not contacted Sony. I can’t remember now what I put into the Search Engine, but was astonished to find your Blog at about number two. I’m no technological whizz by any stretch of imagination and found your instructions simple to follow. I just had to remember to give each disc a different Album name. Thanks very much indeed.
ReplyThank you Gwen for finding my method of conerting audible files useful.
I don’t remember why or if I had to rename each disc a different album name. If you can post feedback about your experience then I’m sure other people would find it useful.
ReplyYou don’t need to burn that CDs. You can use Nero Essentials with audible and make nrg images instead burning CDs. Than you mount those images in Daemon Tools or similar program and then rip them as is described in step 11.
ReplyThank you mota. Your idea will do away with having to waste CDs (unless you actually want to play them on your CD player).
As far as I know Nero Essentials has now been included into Nero 9 which is not a free product, but it’s a great on.
So, for a free solution, you could use somehting like Alcohol Free edition or MagiDisc, or some other virtual CD/DVD software. Try searching download.com for “CD emulation”.
ReplyThere’s a lot easier and FREE way to do it now. This is NOT an AD as I don’t have any connection to the software provider, OK?! Download “iturns’ (free version) http://www.dvdnextcopyiturns.com/ , install the software, start it and then follow the usual procedure of burning CDs via itunes (arghh!) but now, select iturns as the burner. itunes will ‘record’ the CDs to iturns that will, in fact, automatically convert the recording to 192 kbps MP3 files!
ReplyHi Fred,
ReplyThanks for the information.
For all readers – I think Fred may have given a way to create MP3 files without having to create CDs first, however you may still need to import your audbile audio giles into iTunes first.
That sounds like an almost acceptable alternative. I read all of the above comments with a sinking heart, thinking that I’d made a big mistake buying the Walkman. I have 25 Audible audiobooks and did not relish the hundreds of CDs it would have taken, not to mention the hideous amount of time. I’ll start the conversion task tomorrow – Thank you Fred and thank you Bharat for this Blog.
ReplyThank you. I can finally listen to my audible books!
ReplyOK I thought I was smart, but I can’t find the burn button on any of my itunes windows. The audible books are already in my library, so when I open audiobooks in my library the only think in the bottom right corner is the genius button.
ReplyHi Paul,
On the left menu you should have 3 main menu items – LIBRARY, STORE and PLAYLISTS.
It’s is under playlists that your Audible audio should appear and as far as I am aware, it is only here that the Burn button appears at the bottom right.
ReplyThanks Bharat – you are of course correct!! I’ve now found it and am excited to try to convert
ReplyThanks Bharat,
ReplyBurning with iTunes even works for downloads that aren’t flagged with the ‘CD Burnable’ icon on the Audible site. These failed with a license error when I tried to burn them with Windows Media Player, so it’s good to have a solution.
That’s cool Phil – so it sounds as if all Audible files can be burned to CD, and then if required re-coded to MP3 format.
ReplyThanks for all the above info about using iturns seems to work well. However, is there any limit on the size of the book file. I have an audio book 8 hours in length and the system described above seems to stop after files of 3 hours have been converted to MP3. Any suggestions welcomed
ReplyHi Ian,
I’m sorry but I’m not quite sure where you say the process stops.
Which program are you using to do what (where it stops)?
ReplyAs per the advice above I have used iturns http://www.dvdnextcopyiturns.com/ to burn an audio book which has been downloaded from audible.co.uk. to itunes. The book is 8hours long but only the first 3 hours is converted to MP3. Also if you try to burn it again it says it is a one time only process and cannot be repeated. Any idea why the who 8 hours in not converted is there some sort of limit on the size of the original file?
ReplyI am deployed in Afghanistan and the internet is spotty at times and I ended up sending Audible the same trouble ticket four times because my browser would time out and I did not know if it went through or not. I received three responses that boiled down to; one Audible is waiting on Sony to update their firmware so “Sony Walkman” model brand can be added to Audible’s list of supported devices or two they would be happy to e-mail me a list of supported devices that I could buy. Yea let me just run down to the local store and buy a new device that supports there file format. No wait I can’t do that hence why I explained in the second – forth trouble ticket why they might be receiving multiple queries from me. Thanks for nothing Audible. Thank you Bharat Karavadra for the work around.
ReplyThis is sooo irritating. UI urge customers to buy amazon AUDIO CD Books and not audible. com .aa junk. Right now I am needing 3 of 4 books most are 4.5 hour and one is 8hr 50min.
Replyafter I get through copying these I am going to have to break them down on chapters and sub chapters (Ug this is soo flipp’n retarded to get what I need) I’m glad they didn’t fornicate the 4th book I needed as I had to get it from Amazon.com direct as a real audio cd set (Yay I actually have chapters and index on this one) grumble brumble audible ##$!@@#@# grumble. I should sell my efforts and give the MP3s away… (PS the author actually gives permission to copy and share it at the end of one of the books ROFLOL , Audible ripoff.. )
I’m an audible member for some years. I’m no expert. I use Tunebite to convert my books for a friend. Download from pirate bay, although i did purchase mine before finding pirate bay. One snag, it removes encription at real time only, if you stated itunes as default on joining audible, if u set default as media player then it converts twice as fast. I download books direct from my friens computer onto my ipod no prob but Tune bite will not recognise file when I try to unlock them. Hope this helps.
Replyhi ian..
I tried it too but in my case..I couldn’t find the file after using iturns.. so I just did it bharat’s way, that is, burned it to a dvd through itunes. Its much more convenient. I manage to burn a 14 hour audiobook in a single dvd in mp3 format. I’m now dowloading the freerip software..hope this helps
Thanks bharat!!
ReplyMy Sony Ericsson W910i came with Audible built in i thought the idea of this was great, i immediately set out and made a subscription on Audible.co.uk only to be struck by the same problem! Why did Audible come built into my phone if it doesn’t work?
I can download the files over my mobiles HSDPA internet, in 1 hour segments but thats it. :S
Not really very practical.
To the author, if you can find any way of getting them .aa files into MP3 so i can quickly send them to my Walkman phone (without wasting hundreds of CD’s and downloading iTunes, could you please tell us.
ReplyI recorded the Audible audiobooks (also useless on my mp3 player) using Audacity
ReplyI wish that I had read your article before I bought an audiobook from Audible, so that I could have chosen another supplier.
Many thanks to you for writing this article and helping others, like me, in the same situation.
After having converted the aa files to mp3 files I will deinstall AudibleManager, write an email to Audible expressing my disappointment and cancel my account with them. I encourage all of you to do the same.
ReplyTo avoid using a stack of cds for the books, why not use Nero along with audible and create an iso, then load the iso to a virtual drive with power iso or magic iso (or something similar)? The computer won’t know if it is looking at a physical disc or an alotment of ones and zeroes on the local HDD.
Replyperhaps i was fortunate as I uncovered this problem before spending.
on the downside I’m an absolute technophobe so if anyone feels inclibed to break down these instructions feel free
I’m on kelvinh99@yahoo.co.uk
how much space does a good book take?
ReplyI also faced the same problem, I bought a sony walkman to listen to my audio books which I downloaded from audible.com but unfortunately they were not supported??!!
ReplyI think a cheaper solution if you want audible might be one of the devices that support the format. I have a Creative Zen, 4gig that I picked up two years ago now for $60 and I know it is alot cheaper now. It is a matter of deciding what your time is worth and the cost of CDs. I love my audible and $15 a month for a new book does not seem bad. I have also used the 1 cent promotions, and enjoyed some of the free chapters. I haven’t looked at the walkman but can tell you going with complete system can have its benifits. I have a MS Zune too and some parts of the software drives me nuts but I am totally hooked on the automated podcast part, it removes what I have listened to and puts the new on. I believe Ipods with Itunes have simular benifits.
ReplyHi Casey, Thanks for your suggestion about having a device that supports the format, however this post was started with an assumption that one does not have a device that supports the format.
So, if you have a device that supports the audible format then according to Casey you should have no issues with putting the audio format from audible onto your device.
However, if you don’t have a device that supports the audible format then you can either go through the process that I wrote about to convert it to MP3, or purchase a device that supports the audible format.
ReplyHi,
I followed the original instructions above for a big book (around 16h / 17h, though they were 2 .aa files of approx 121 Mb each). I’m already on 9 cds and counting, do you think I might be doing something wrong?
ReplyMonica,
The average length of CD audio is about 75 minutes. So if the book is 17 hours then that 17 x 60 minutes = 1020 minutes. Divide 1020 by 75 = 13 and a half CD’s. So if you’re on CD 9 then you should have about another 5 CD’s to go.
Yes, that’s a big book.
Bharat
ReplyHi. I got to the part were I need to burn via itunes, but how do I change it to burn using iturns?
ReplyOk pls help me. I burned the file via iturns, but now it’s an oog file. How do I convert that to an mp3 file?
ReplyHi Marie,
I really don;t know what iturns is and the output of an oog file.
Please follow the instructions above when burning the audio files from itunes.
Bharat
ReplyI had the same problem with my Go Gear MP3 player, it said it was supported but wont recognise to transfer files, so I’m stuck with the tracks on my PC which is useless as I purchased them to be portable. I had the same response, very unhelpfull, hopefully they will go out of business when the book companies realise people wont deal with them. I would never purchase from this compnay again, but I still keep getting emails from them.
ReplyHi Charles,
If you use the process above, you should be able to get the files converted to mp3 format and onto your Go Gear player, as long you can transfer files from your PC to your Go Gear using drag and drop.
Bharat
ReplyBharat,
Thank you for publishing this fantastic blog. I would never have worked out this solution on my own.
I find it frustrating that we have yet another example of an audio technology which has been designed with only iPod users in mind. It is heartening to know that I am not the only person in the world who wishes to use a Sony product, rather than selling my soul to the A**le Corporation.
ReplyAlan, I think the difficulty in converting audible audio files into MP3 format has been deliberately created so that the audio files are protected and cannot be copied.
However any audio that can be played on a computer can be copied (no matter how good the file protection is) by simply playing it on your computer and plugging the sound output into your sound input (microphone or line in) and then using and audio recorder to simply record it and then saving it as the file type that you desire. In this case, an mp3 file. It’s just that this method takes a while – simply the time length of the audio file as you have to play it all and record it at the same time.
ReplyHello Bharat,
Thankyou or sharing your experience. I am in the same position with my Sony Walkman. I am about to follow your procedure to convert a 17 hour audio book, but before I begin, Can I ask? Why do you not use Itunes to rip the CDs once they are burned?
Thanks,
Sean
ReplyHi Sean,
ReplyOnce you’ve burned the CD’s with iTunes, you don’t use iTunes anymore. Use FreeRip to turn the CD’s into MP3 files using step 9 onwards in the main post above.
Hi
ReplyGreat Post, About time someone started revealing this to the public. First off, the reason audible uses .aa is its compresstion ratio. A 50mb .aa file is roughly equivalent to a 500mb mp3…do you really want to download half gig files just to listen to a book? probably not. Second, everything you listed can be done with itunes…yes you need the audible manager to get the files from audible, but the burning,and the ripping can be done all in itunes and it will create un-protected mp3 for use on any device.downloading addition software is unnecessary.Audible also offers to allow you to back up your purchases by making a copy, and if you happen to have NERO then your all set too. I also suggest that if you plan on doing this proceedure often, get some re-writeable cd’s and use them over and over, cause you really just want the data, not stacks of cd’s lying around.
Fantastic. Very clear instructions. You would not believe the trouble I have had trying to listen to an Audible book that I paid for, but could not convert to make it play on my Sansa MP3 player. OK, it takes quite a long time to go through the whole process, but before I saw your posting, I was on the point of giving up altogether. Thanks again.
ReplyHi Bharat,
When I tried to burn to a disc through iTunes I got this error message:
“cannot be burned because burning is disabled for this track.”
Any tips for getting around this?
Thanks.
ReplyThere is a much easier and cheaper way of converting audio files to mp3. You need an mp3 recorder installed on your pc to record directly from your soundboard – ie: what-you-hear-is-what-you-get. I use TotalRecorder Pro but I believe Audacity is available free of charge. Disable all system sounds (e-mail alerts etc) and start playback on Audible Manager and record on TR or Audacity simultaneously. Check recording level for loudness/distortion and output file settings (MP3 128 bit 44 100 Hz) Allow to run for a couple of minutes and check playback quality/transferibility of the output file. If it works (and it should work) just play and record and let it run overnight until the entire file is copied. Save the converted file and divide it into convenient shorter files – TR has this facility – I assume Audacity does too. Works like a charm and the only minor inconvenience is that it takes the length of the audiobook to record.
ReplySully,
Yes your method also works as I have mentioned in my comment above, and yes you need to disable all sounds otherwise any sounds that your operating system makes will also be recorded. I used this method, and also using Audacity, but I found it a bit tricky to figure out which sound output port to connect to which sound input port and set the appropriate ports in the sound settings and Audacity. However, if you have patience then a bit of trial and error will do the trick. Then I had to create the correct sound balance levels to maintain a good level of recording without it being to low or to high so that it got distorted. Again trial and error will help. And yes again, you have to wait for the time to play all the audio for it to record, but you can simply put an alarm on when you know the length and then even if you have recorded silence at the start and end, you can use Audacity to crop both “ends”.
I hope that helps.
ReplyApologies Bharat if I repeated your ideas. As a regular user of Total Recorder I am fairly familiar with its settings. There is no issue with ports – only to set optimal recording volume which can be set to automatic. Splitting files is also a simple matter. All in all, this is much simpler and cheaper than burning 15 cds.
On another issue – my HTC Touch smartphone is fully Audible player compatible and my legitimately purchased Audible downloads are a joy to listen to on this player using bookmarks. I wonder whether anyone has found a way to play mp3 files on Audible player (or to convert mp3 to aac)?
Best Regards,
ReplySully
No need to apologise Scully – I was simply agreeing with what you suggested and it was a good suggestion as CD’s are not wasted.
And, I only tend to use mp3 audio so my general mission is to convert all audio to mp3, so if anyone has any suggestions about converting mp3 to aac then they will be welcomed, especially by Scully.
ReplyHi. For those concerned about having to use loads of CDs for this . . . I used Nero 9 and just one CD-RW. I burned the first disc, ripped it to MP3, then overwrote the CD with the next disc. Did this for the 9 CDs worth of book I was converting, then wiped the disc to leave it blank and ready for next time!
Seeemples!
ReplyThanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions!
I’ve just blogged about this problem, check it out: http://dasiahasablog.blogspot.com/2010/02/rainbow-is-not-dirty-word.html
I think we should all raise awareness of how ridiculously restrictive Audible’s .aa format is! Share files, not blood pressure meds ;)
ReplyTry; soundtaxi pro – software that converts most formats to most formats circumventing DRM – working nicely for me on aa files. Beg, borrow or steal as your conscience allows…
ReplyHi, thanks so much for this site. It is so frustrating that after you spend money at Audible you will not be able to use their product. I spent the whole day trying to convert .aa files into MP3’s and then to M4B’s. Hopefully now it is going to work.
I have downloaded ITurns and now burning the book to ITurns..
Replyjust downloaded latest version of iTunes – 23.3.10 – has Audible wised up to all this – in iTunes, click on ‘Burn Disc’ ok, but then message box ‘None of these files can be burned to an MP3 CD’ reason given ‘is an Audible file and can not be burned to an MP3 CD.’
ReplyHi Phil,
See step 6 – can you make sure you have “AUDIO CD” selected and not anything else. I can run you through it step by step at the moment as I do not have anything in my iTunes playlist.
ReplyThank you for your information. I fell into the same trap, and now have a Sony Walkman that isn’t supported by Audible.com. However, after putting my audio book onto CD’s and downloading FreeRip, I found a problem that I haven’t seen in all the comments. After I inserted my CD, and initiated FreeRip, I get a list of tracks in German that have nothing to do with what is on the CD. I have actually listened to the CD and the book that I wanted is there. What am I missing?
ReplyHi EPayne,
Your scenario sounds very odd – it might be an issue with how the index/directory of the CD was written or is being read – try writing another CD to see if it happens.
Either way – the number of tracks that appear in Free RIP and the number of tracks on the CD (and what it says on the box or description of the CD) usually match – so if the numbers are out then something definitely is not right with how the
CD is written or being read.
If the number of tracks are the same and you still get the odd names – just go through the process of creating the mp3’s and then click on each mp3 file to play it to ensure that it was what it is supposed to be (a few seconds of each track will tell you) and then simply re-label the files to what they are supposed to be called.
However mp3 files have tags and if the tags have the german or other names – they will appear on your walkman and not the names that you called the files. So, you will need to use MP3 Tag editing software to change the tags to the names of the tracks. You should be able to find a free on download.com – I use Tag Scanner but this is over complex for your needs.
I hope that helps.
ReplyThank you so very much for this info! Not only is the information provided in a clear, straightforward way (with no jargon or “techspeak” – if I could understand that stuff I probably wouldn’t need to be asking for help!) but it ACTUALLY WORKS! Cheers …
ReplyThank you Gary,
For your appreciation.
ReplyAudible is actually anti-consumer, as we pay for the audiobooks but can’t play them on any mp3 player of our choosing. It’s shocking and just another control mechanism rather than their claim of protecting the authors rights. We’ve already paid. That’s why I cancelled my subscription to audible.
Anyway, I used to have to re-record the books using audacity as I didn’t want to burn tons of cd’s and the rip them using media player.
I encourage everyone to complain to audible, swamp their inbox with emails demanding our right to use our paid for products in the way we want to use them. Cancel your subscription. That’ll make them change their stupid drm policy.
Reply5 stars!!!
ReplyLike you I have been desperately looking to convert audible uk downloads to mp3. Like you I had the exact same experience. I was getting very frustrated and then you popped up. Thank you!!
Thank you Preston,
I’m glad the above article and comments have proved useful for you.
ReplyI just happened on this blog and read these comments about Audible and ‘aa’ format. I don’t understand the problem. Hasn’t anyone ever heard of ‘SoundTaxi’ software???
Kindest…..Jay
ReplyHi Jay,
The root of the issue is mentioned above, but in brief when I purchased an Audible file I could not save it on to my Sony Walkman to listen to after choosing the option of Sony Handhelds (which the Sony Walkman is) within the Audible Manager software, and when I mentioned the issue with Audible – they told me that I could not save it to my Walkman as it was not supported. A Sony Walkman is a Sony Handheld and probably one of the most common Sony Handhelds, and that was MY issue.
You can perhaps ask other what there issue was, or is.
ReplyHi Bharat,
Understand what your issue was but it seems that you can convert the ‘aa’ files direstly to ‘mp3′ files and after the conversion, the newly created files can be handled without alot of trouble. I’m sure that there could be other issues I don’t understand and if that’s the case, please forgive me.
Thanks, Jay
ReplyI’m sorry but I really don’t understand what you are saying Jay. I could not convert .aa files to mp3 directly and neither could others as per the comments above.
Can you please elaborate on your statement ” it seems that you can convert the ‘aa’ files direstly to ‘mp3′ files” on how people can freely convert .aa files to mp3 format?
ReplyThanks so much for saving me from a meltdown. I am furious at having paid for an audiobook, something new for me as I usually download them for free from my library, and was furious that I wasn’t told prior to purchasing that it wouldn’t work on my walkman! You have saved me what I’m sure would be a frustrating discussion with Audible customer service. I’m trying the iturns avenue first, wanting to save CDs, but will go forth with your method if that doesn’t work. I’m getting this book one way or another. Thanks again.
ReplyHi Donna,
I’m glad the above post has been useful. I haven’t tried the iturns method myself – I hope it goes well, otherwise the process I describe above by using CD’s should work OK.
ReplyI also have the Sony Walkman and found the same problem as everyone else 18 cd’s I numbered the cd and the page number (02/07)and after what seemed forever this worked. Anyway I wanted another book from Audible as the original is out of print but this time when on the 6th and 7th cd(book in two parts)I keep getting an error message I phoned Audible who cancelled the original download and resent it,once again I can only get to the 6th cd before the error message I have checked the the pc and it all the parts seem to be there. How can I get this on to my Walkman. Any suggestions would be most helpful. Thanks Anne
ReplyHi Anne,
As you seem to have done it once with 18CD audio file, I can only assume it’s something to do with the second audio file.
What is the error message that you get?
ReplyThanks I phoned Audible again and they sent the book once again. The staff at Audible have been helpful and explained how to get the part that was missing without burning all the CD’s I wonder if it is worth all the hassel to get the book on to the Walkman I might end up buying an other mp3 player thats compatable but I dont want the ipod Anne
ReplyHi Anne,
Whether you purchase another mp3 player or not is your choice – it depends on your needs. However, remember that the mp3 format is the most dominant and accepted audio format which should be supported by any device claiming to play the mp3 format and hence I personally do not see why the Walkman, which is also a dominant and accepted mp3 player, was not supported by audible and hence having to find a way to convert audible files to mp3 format.
So in brief, mp3 format is mp3 format and an mp3 player is an mp3 player, and so suppliers selling or giving away audio files claiming that they can be converted to another audio format should seriously consider the mp3 format and all mp3 players.
ReplyI appreciate your problems with Audible. I am checking forums to verify that a new Sony walkman would support my normal usage, including Audible books. As my search is in response to Audible’s lack of support for Android handset (the help line suggested I stay with my old iPhone), I am not surprised by Audible’s lack of support for one of the most popular mp3 players on the market.
Audible obviously feel that supporting Apple’s phones and mp3 players is enough and customers should not be allowed to choose who makes their mp3 player (or phone).
ReplyHi Christopher,
I don’t think it’s about customers not being able to choose their mp3 player, but more so that one of the world’s most common and well know mp3 players is the Sony Walkman which plays probably the de facto standard in digital audio files, namely mp3, and hence Audible is losing out on a huge market. Perhaps they have valid reasons but they should make them clear, rather than just hide them away and not express the truth of the matter, whatever that may be.
ReplyHi All,
ReplyWhat a great blog. I sifted through all the info and gleaned enough info to be able to listen to my .aa files. (Curse you Audible). Many thanks to all who contributed. I used this method, DOWNLOAD TO ITUNES, BURN TO CD-RW OVER AND OVER, RIP TO MP3 USING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER, SPLIT FILES USING “SLICE” AUDIO FILE SPLITTER, (IT’S FREE !) JOB DONE…..YAY!!!!!!. Cheers again.
Thanks Glen,
You seem to have a new method using Windows Media Player and Slice, the latter of which I have not heard of.
I hope you all can make use of Glen’s method.
ReplyHi All….Again.
ReplyJust thought I’d clear up some info on “SLICE”
This MP3 splitter software will cut your files into any length you require, 1 Second and upwards. It uses simple drag and drop methods with quite a few other options you will find useful It can be downloaded from the NCH Software site. I have used a lot of thier programs, which are excellent and safe for you and your pc, and yes, it is FREE with no strings attached. I know it sounds like a lot of messing about but it’s worth it in the end. It takes me roughly 15-20 mins to get 4 hours of Audible.aa files from I-tunes (hmmph !!) to ANY MP3 player I choose. I hope this extra info has helped……Enjoy,
Regards…..GLEN.
Thanks for the info Glen.
Replyhi bharat,
you have a gift for clear communication! i read your blog looking for a way to convert my audible books into smaller files on my Mac. i listen when i go to bed and they never shut off, unlike when i get an audiobook from the library and can make a playlist out of each CD. i found many good ideas but nothing that was quick or free. then i searched audible.com and found this. i don’t know if they changed something since you began your blog or not, I know you mentioned using AudibleManager, but they say that you can transfer your audio to a MP3 Player.
“To enjoy content directly from your computer, you will need to install the AudibleManager Software.
With AudibleManager you can:
Listen right from your computer
Transfer audio to a MP3 Player, Kindle, Mobile Phone, Or GPS.”
here’s where i found this:
http://www.audible.com/sw?pageFlowType=PC_WIZARD
i hope this helps.
laurie
ReplyLaurie,
Thank you for your kind words and that you found some use in them and also in the outcome in being able to listen to your audio when and where you want.
Reply