FOFC technical support Importing audio books into iTunes

[Glengoyne]

I'm coming here because I've spent a good half an hour looking for this information on Google, and have come up short. Not empty, but definitely coming up short.

I've got the Golden Compass Audio Book from Random House Audio, and after importing the CDs, I get occasional static during playback. Sometimes it actually sounds like the CD is skipping, as in I get vinyl album flashbacks. The CDs are clean, and all of my fiddling with import options has resulted in no appreciable gain.

So do any of you wise technologically savvy folks have any audio bood import tips for a computer industry professional that is a complete digital audio neophyte.

Just to give you an example of how over my head I am. When I went to browse the CD in my PC, I saw 15 files, each of them just 40 or 50 bytes. That is it. I know there is something else there, but I'm not seeing them, and I don't know why. I don't really care too much, but I thought that would give some folks a good laugh.

[Glengoyne]

One thing I noted is that the audio book download from iTunes is only $24. I bet that would solve my future problems with this.

[Peregrine]

I'd like to help but I don't know, I buy all my audiobooks from Audible in MP3 format which makes it very easy to put it straight into iTunes.

[Glengoyne]

I'd like to help but I don't know, I buy all my audiobooks from Audible in MP3 format which makes it very easy to put it straight into iTunes.

I think I've fallen for this Audible thing. It looks like a great deal.

Is it weird that I'm pretty much only using my iPod for books?

[Calis]

I think I've fallen for this Audible thing. It looks like a great deal.

Is it weird that I'm pretty much only using my iPod for books?

I have lately only been using my ipod for audiobooks and podcasts so I hope it's not too weird.

The only thing that sucks with the MP3 rather than actual audiobook format is the bookmarking and it not saving your place when you stop which is a pretty big deal imo.

I found an audiobook version of Shelby Foote's Civil War Narrative and have been listening to that while at work lately. Great way to pass the day.

[Glengoyne]

I have lately only been using my ipod for audiobooks and podcasts so I hope it's not too weird.

The only thing that sucks with the MP3 rather than actual audiobook format is the bookmarking and it not saving your place when you stop which is a pretty big deal imo.

I found an audiobook version of Shelby Foote's Civil War Narrative and have been listening to that while at work lately. Great way to pass the day.


The difference between audiobook format and MP3 is interesting. All of my CD audio books that I've converted so far, have gone straight to iTunes without trouble. I do have some older books in mp3 format, so I guess I'll have that no bookmark issue with that content.

The audible.com books are in audiobook format...correct?

[Peregrine]

Audible doesn't use exactly MP3, they use some kind of proprietary version of MP3 I believe. I've never had a problem with it holding my place though, they import fine into iTunes as audiobooks. I use my iPod for audiobooks quite a bit, as well as for music.

If you read a lot of books, you can get a subscription to Audible, like I have. The basic one is something like $15 a month, which gives you one credit each month to buy a free book. Most of the books are around $13-15 so that part is a wash but with the subscription you get Audible member prices for all the rest of the books, which makes them a pretty good deal. They have various free options as well, like short stories and things like that.

[Calis]

The difference between audiobook format and MP3 is interesting. All of my CD audio books that I've converted so far, have gone straight to iTunes without trouble. I do have some older books in mp3 format, so I guess I'll have that no bookmark issue with that content.

The audible.com books are in audiobook format...correct?

Well any audiobook can convert into MP3 just fine, and it'll play no problem. The actual audiobook extension for iTunes is I think .M4b if I remember right. There's a guide out there for converting them if you have one you're interested in which I did on a few, but if you've got a hundred files or so it's just not worth it as you have to convert to a different filetype and then manually rename every file. It's one thing that I find realy annoying with Apple's MP3 players, where I know some of the other allow bookmarking of MP3's.

[Glengoyne]

Audible doesn't use exactly MP3, they use some kind of proprietary version of MP3 I believe. I've never had a problem with it holding my place though, they import fine into iTunes as audiobooks. I use my iPod for audiobooks quite a bit, as well as for music.

If you read a lot of books, you can get a subscription to Audible, like I have. The basic one is something like $15 a month, which gives you one credit each month to buy a free book. Most of the books are around $13-15 so that part is a wash but with the subscription you get Audible member prices for all the rest of the books, which makes them a pretty good deal. They have various free options as well, like short stories and things like that.


The description said a small number of books require two credits, but nothing I've seen indicates which ones those are. When I see the cost of say the Robert Jordan WoT books set at $50-$60, It looks awfully appealing if those only cost one credit. That would make it worth it.

[Peregrine]

Almost all books cost one credit, even things like the Shelby Foote Civil War books which are really long. It describes in the description of the book how much it costs and how many credits.

[Glengoyne]

I just found the catalog for Audible, and I'm thinking it is a pretty good deal(Even if the larger books I'm interested in require two "credits". I'm usually slow to get on the bandwagon on this kind of thing, but I'm annoyed that I hadn't done the research on this before running into trouble importing CDs.

As for my original problem. I just started elevating the bit rate, and I think that is minimizing my trouble. I'm sort of wondering why I can listen to music and other audio books at lower bit rates, but some require settings above 320. I'm actually wondering if there is a way to tell if something is in stero versus mono. I'm wondering if that is my issue.

[Glengoyne]

I'm laughing now, because I just reached a chapter where my "skipping" problem was chronic and beyond incidental. I actually couldn't understand the content. I took out the original, and found tiny shallow scratches on the CD. My source material was bad.

In any case, I believe I've found a new place online to spend my money at the expense of Brick and Mortar establishments I've been frequenting for years.

[KWhit]

I've been an Audible subscriber for a couple of years now and I love it.

[BrianD]

Well any audiobook can convert into MP3 just fine, and it'll play no problem. The actual audiobook extension for iTunes is I think .M4b if I remember right. There's a guide out there for converting them if you have one you're interested in which I did on a few, but if you've got a hundred files or so it's just not worth it as you have to convert to a different filetype and then manually rename every file. It's one thing that I find realy annoying with Apple's MP3 players, where I know some of the other allow bookmarking of MP3's.

I may be missing something, but I've never had trouble with bookmarking MP3s with my iPod. If I leave a book, I do have to remember which track I was on, but when I start playing that track again, it picks up right where it left off.

[terpkristin]

I've been an Audible subscriber for a couple of years now and I love it.

+1. I love audibooks, and have been with Audible for quite awhile (as a subscriber, I think almost 3 years now). The nice thing is that with my sister and mom with iPods, if I don't think I need anything during a given month, I can download something for them (and sometimes, their picks are interesting that I give them a listen, too).

As far as "bookmarking" on the iPod, whether the file is an m4b audiobook file or if it's an mp3 or an aac file (m4a or m4p), you can make iTunes (and your iPod) remember where you left off in any track by right clicking on the track (or a group of tracks) and clicking "Get Info." Under the "Options" tab there is a click-box for "Remember playback position." iTunes does this automatically for m4b files (from Audible) and for most podcasts downloaded through the iTunes, but the ability allows you to do it on mp3's and such, too. It was quite useful when I had an audiobook I DIDN'T buy from Audible that I ripped in from CD.

As for audio quality, I'm surprised. For music, I rip into 256 kbps stereo audio (I rip into AAC format). For books, I've seen 32 kbps - 64 kbps mono recommended. By the by, this website looks useful for a how-to to get them recognized as "Audiobooks" on iTunes, even if you rip them from CD... http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/itunsabk.htm

Happy listening, I love audiobooks when I'm at work with mindless stuff to do, when I'm driving, when I'm flying, and especially when I'm not at home and I'm having trouble falling asleep.

/tk

[Calis]

As far as "bookmarking" on the iPod, whether the file is an m4b audiobook file or if it's an mp3 or an aac file (m4a or m4p), you can make iTunes (and your iPod) remember where you left off in any track by right clicking on the track (or a group of tracks) and clicking "Get Info." Under the "Options" tab there is a click-box for "Remember playback position." iTunes does this automatically for m4b files (from Audible) and for most podcasts downloaded through the iTunes, but the ability allows you to do it on mp3's and such, too. It was quite useful when I had an audiobook I DIDN'T buy from Audible that I ripped in from CD.

As for audio quality, I'm surprised. For music, I rip into 256 kbps stereo audio (I rip into AAC format). For books, I've seen 32 kbps - 64 kbps mono recommended. By the by, this website looks useful for a how-to to get them recognized as "Audiobooks" on iTunes, even if you rip them from CD... http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/itunsabk.htm

/tk

Awesome, thanks for that. I somehow didn't even realize that. Has that been around for a while in iTunes? I swear I never saw that when I started this and everything I found searching on it said you had to convert to get that. If I can get it to "bookmark" without going through that hassle I'm all for it.

I mostly check out Audio CD's from the library and then rip them myself. I haven't done much of the audible stuff.

[Easy Mac]

I just rip each track into an mp3, then use the program linked below to combine them into 1 long book.

MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter -


http://www.freeipodsoftware.com/

[Mota]

I may be missing something, but I've never had trouble with bookmarking MP3s with my iPod. If I leave a book, I do have to remember which track I was on, but when I start playing that track again, it picks up right where it left off.

I actually use a program called MP3 Join and combine all the files into one big file. Then I go to amazon.com and grab the book cover as album art. The Ipod does remember where you were, and because it's all been converted to a single file, you don't have to worry about which file you were listening to.

[BrianD]

I actually use a program called MP3 Join and combine all the files into one big file. Then I go to amazon.com and grab the book cover as album art. The Ipod does remember where you were, and because it's all been converted to a single file, you don't have to worry about which file you were listening to.

That is not a bad way to go. Not having to deal with individual tracks would make leaving the book and returning less of a hassle.