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Converting .aa files to mp3's
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rick5446
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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24. April 2007 @ 05:18 |
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ffamas..sounds like U lost some codecs..just my 2cents..I would partition my hard drive 10gig [10240Meg Bytes] primary[Partition Magic].Then install windows their,all other programs on secondary..At least this way U know what U got,& the likely hood of getting everything back working is easier to figure out.Once Yuo have everything the way U want it,use GHOST to to back it up [C:]..I did'nt say back-up HDD..I said use ghost to!!!
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ffamas
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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24. April 2007 @ 06:15 |
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Turns out audible had locked me out of "activations" because I had activated audible manager 3 times in the last 7 months. They "reset" my account and now the aa's play on WMP 10.
Their software page makes no reference to WMP 10 being supported but it is if you install the manager not associated with WMP 11.
I have not been able to reinstall WMAconvert, again because of activation issue. I have emailed them and am awaiting response.
rick, yes ghost is my friend also, but I changed OS from xphome to pro so a fresh install was required.
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rrb11
Newbie
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2. May 2007 @ 12:26 |
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I have decoaded a couple of books .aa file from Audible with WMAConverter.exe. Works fine but of course there is a problem. WMAConverter.exe cut off the last 20% or so of the book. I did not know this until last night. I am unsure what to do know????????????
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knipknup
Newbie
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2. May 2007 @ 17:18 |
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Soundtaxi is the answer. However, the files are around 3x larger, but it works... quick and easy. The #1 choice, in my opinion.
who dat?
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ffamas
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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2. May 2007 @ 21:26 |
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knipknup, a coupla questions if I may:
1-is soundtaxi any faster than wmaconvert?
2-you say files are 3x larger than wmaconvert. Even if converted to same quality (kps)?
Thanx
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davidlan
Newbie
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3. May 2007 @ 00:42 |
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Thanks, DigidocTN - that's a great idea!
Originally posted by DigidocTN:
Use the audible software and download your files.
Select your choice to burn to audio CDs
For a recorder, choose the Image Recorder instead of an actual CDR.
Audible and Nero then split this image into multiple chunks as needed.
Mount these images using MagicISO as a virtual drive.
Rip these audio files into MP3 using your favorite ripper.
I must be really close, but I can't get Audible Manager to think there's a blank CD in the virtual drive - I have Nero 6 and Audible Manager 3.5 (I went back to an older version so I could record with GoldWave, dbPowerAmp, etc).
Can you give me any pointers on how to set up Nero ImageDrive to work with Audible Manager - or is ImageDrive something different to Image Recorder?
Thanks in advance!
David
DavidL
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knipknup
Newbie
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6. May 2007 @ 09:49 |
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Originally posted by ffamas:
knipknup, a coupla questions if I may:
1-is soundtaxi any faster than wmaconvert?
2-you say files are 3x larger than wmaconvert. Even if converted to same quality (kps)?
Thanx
1-I haven't used wmaconvert so I don't know, but 3 or 4 mb songs take about 30s to 1min each.
2-I used the defaults and didn't try to match quality. I converted a 50mb audible file (.aa) and it ended up around 180mb mp3.
who dat?
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knipknup
Newbie
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6. May 2007 @ 09:54 |
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Quote:
Thanks, DigidocTN - that's a great idea!
Originally posted by DigidocTN:
Use the audible software and download your files.
Select your choice to burn to audio CDs
For a recorder, choose the Image Recorder instead of an actual CDR.
Audible and Nero then split this image into multiple chunks as needed.
Mount these images using MagicISO as a virtual drive.
Rip these audio files into MP3 using your favorite ripper.
I believe you need Nero 7 to make this work.
I tried this and it became very tedious keeping track of each file. For a 8+ hr audible program, I was getting the impression (midway through the process) that it would be around 36 or more separate CD img files that I would then need to convert to mp3s. After an hour of just creating virtual cds and only being 10% done with the whole process and still needing to convert those to mp3s, I bagged it. My time is worth more.
It also didn't help that all that software (Nero, vcd8, etc) ate up all my 512MB memory on my pc and made the whole process require swap file use and slowed it waaaaaaaay down.
It works, but not without kinks - in my opinion...
I must be really close, but I can't get Audible Manager to think there's a blank CD in the virtual drive - I have Nero 6 and Audible Manager 3.5 (I went back to an older version so I could record with GoldWave, dbPowerAmp, etc).
Can you give me any pointers on how to set up Nero ImageDrive to work with Audible Manager - or is ImageDrive something different to Image Recorder?
Thanks in advance!
David
who dat?
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davidlan
Newbie
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6. May 2007 @ 10:48 |
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Hi KnipKnup,
Quote:
I believe you need Nero 7 to make this work.
Yes, I think that's right - I think Nero v7.2 was the first to support Audible format files, after they did a deal with Audible. As is always the case, I found an answer almost immediately after posting my question. Doh!
Anyhow, after I upgraded to Audible Manager 5 and Nero 7 (trial edition), Audible would happilyu burn virtual CD images via the Image Recorder, no problem.
It works!
Quote:
I tried this and it became very tedious keeping track of each file.
There are quite a few files to keep track of - I decided to keep the disk image (nrg) files in the same folder as the aa's, naming them MyBookTitle01.nrg, MyBookTitle02.nrg etc. (And the rips go into my standard "My Music" folder.)
Quote:
For a 8+ hr audible program, I was getting the impression (midway through the process) that it would be around 36 or more separate CD img files that I would then need to convert to mp3s. After an hour of just creating virtual cds and only being 10% done with the whole process and still needing to convert those to mp3s, I bagged it. My time is worth more.
I think that's an overestimation - it should be somewhat under 1 CD per hour of book. (A CD holds up to 80 minutes of audio.)
I tried "Still Here" by Ram Dass as an experiment. It's 3h 05 min long, and the format 4 ("CD Quality") aa file is 42.3mb. The nrg disk images (three of them) were 1.82gb between them. But the rips (32kbps mp4's) were just 36.2mb for the whole book.
Ultimately, I think I'll either delete the disk images or burn them to DVD - I can always recreate them again later from the aa file.
Quote:
It also didn't help that all that software (Nero, vcd8, etc) ate up all my 512MB memory on my pc and made the whole process require swap file use and slowed it waaaaaaaay down.
What a pain. Good to know the parameters though... (and it'd be interesting to know what else you have running on your system.)
I've got 1gb RAM here on my venerable old PIII 1.13ghz and luckily didn't experience any of the problems you reported. But still, it was a slow process, burning and then ripping CD's, and luckily I had plenty of other things to do (like work!) while waiting for it to finish.
Quote:
It works, but not without kinks - in my opinion...
I agree - though to my view it's the best of a bad bunch of options.
The benefits of doing it this way are:
a) Audible breaks up the book into chunks automatically, and names each chunk intelligently (eg (1/26) Still Here Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying, etc)
b) The ripped mp3's retain the tags for author, title, etc
c) The ripper puts the mp3's in the right sub-folder in "My Music"
d) Nero does it all out-of-the-box and doesn't need any additional codecs or other supporting software
e) You can use the latest version of Audible Manager, and don't need to downgrade to v3.5 to convert your aa files (like you have to do with dbPowerAmp or GoldWave)
On the minus side, it's relatively slow (compared to file conversion with dbPowerAmp), requires a lot of disk space for the CD images, and (as you report) a lot of RAM for performance.
The alternative is to downgrade Audible Manager to v3.5, convert to mp3 with dbPowerAmp, split it up with a utility, change tags manually (or using a utility), and then convert to mp4 or AAC or whatever for your phone or mobile device.
The reason I need split files is that my mobile music players (RealPlayer and Nokia Media Player) won't seek, so I'd have to listen to the entire book at once if it were just one long file. And no, they don't keep bookmarks or bother to remember where they were when they left off, I mean, don't be so silly why would anyone want a feature like that?! (Are you listening, Nokia???)
Best wishes,
David
DavidL
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AADoh
Newbie
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28. May 2007 @ 04:49 |
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this dbpoweramp seems to be useless just like goldwave. goldwave wants to cut the files into 15 minute samples, dbpoweramp doesn't recongize the codecs... can Nero make mp3s? i don't want to make a cd right now i want mp3s. later i will put them in my palm pilot and/or cd for travel.
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knipknup
Newbie
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28. May 2007 @ 05:35 |
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Have you tried soundtaxi? I'm confused why everyone is still trying to jump through all the hoops of making virtual cds and then rip them all to mp3s. Aside from the filesize and bookmarks, soundtaxi does all this without all the time and effort and klunky pieces of software that have to be used together. With soundtaxi, I just installed it, selected an audible file and viola, it worked! When it finished, I had an mp3 file of my audiobook. The work then begins if you want to break that file up into pieces or bookmark it.
who dat?
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AADoh
Newbie
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28. May 2007 @ 05:38 |
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i can't really pay for software right now. i cannot afford it. that is why i want what is available for free. Nero through audibles.com has a free 30 day trial completely functional. but i think it just turns files to CDA files directly onto CD nothing else.
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jem7991
Newbie
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28. May 2007 @ 21:19 |
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Originally posted by AADoh:
this dbpoweramp seems to be useless just like goldwave. goldwave wants to cut the files into 15 minute samples, dbpoweramp doesn't recongize the codecs... can Nero make mp3s? i don't want to make a cd right now i want mp3s. later i will put them in my palm pilot and/or cd for travel.
DBpoweramp works for me, but they took down the instructions on how to do it.. Wish i remembered how..
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AADoh
Newbie
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28. May 2007 @ 22:21 |
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i just downloaded the fully functional trial version of Nero. i had no intention of getting a real subscription to audible.com i had a card for three free books. i have put them all on CD now.
if i want to put them in mp3 format on my palm pilot, i can do that now too by converting the CD tracks to mp3. thanks.
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davidlan
Newbie
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29. May 2007 @ 00:15 |
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Sorry jem7991, I looked on the web for where I'd found the instructions for getting dbPowerAmp to work but can't find them...
knipknup, thanks for the recommendation for SoundTaxi, I'll give it a go . There's a free trial and for $14.95 how wrong can you go?
I've bought Nero which is very useful in its own right, but as you say it's really cumbersome to convert an aa file via an intermediary disk image!
David
DavidL
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jem7991
Newbie
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29. May 2007 @ 03:24 |
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Thats what i said, they took them down... Audible found out about it and took the instructions down, anyways worked for me... Sorry guys, wish i could be of more help.
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kjohn73
Newbie
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30. May 2007 @ 22:41 |
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I have downloaded the Nero Trial version. I burned one .aa file to an "image" CD for a test run. It is an .nrg file. Please, could someone explain what I must do now. I have GoldWave, SoundTaxi, WMAConvert, FrreRip. I simply want to be able to listen to an Audible story on my Creative MuV 1gb MP3 player. I did manage to get the file "saved as" an MP3, but there was nothing in it. Just a reasonable answer is all I ask, not a dressing down like the last time I asked a question. Thanks in advance. kjohn p.s. Wouldn't it be nice if Audible came down off their high horse and just simply sold their audio books in a [img]reasonable format[/img]. I, for one, won't be buying any more books from them.
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davidlan
Newbie
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31. May 2007 @ 00:44 |
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kjohn, you are almost there! All you need to do is mount the nrg file as a virtual CD using Nero ImageDrive, and from there you can rip it to mp3 (or whatever) using Nero. Make sense?
PS. I am in awe of the aa format as they've managed to squeeze CD-quality audio into relatively tiny files. To get anything of similar size you have to reduce your mp3 quality to 32kbps and it sounds terrible! So great codec, Audible! What I don't like, and find totally unreasonable, is the way they pursue people who want to convert the files they've bought and downloaded into another format for their own (totally reasonable) use.
DavidL
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jadoglio
Newbie
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31. May 2007 @ 03:36 |
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I bought Soundtaxi severalmonthe ago and converted several books. Recently I downloaded two new books adn Soundtaxi converted them but they had an echo in them. I reinstalled sound taxi and converted them again with the same result. Anyone else had this problem? Thankc
JADO
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kjohn73
Newbie
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31. May 2007 @ 11:12 |
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davidlan: Thanks for the encouragement. I have the file(s) saved as .nrg. Can you explain how to rip this file to .mp3 with Nero. I seem to be missing something (probably pretty simple). The file shows up as "disc image". Can you explain just how do I get Nero to the point where I can "rip" the tracks to .mp3. Sorry for all the trouble. Thanks in adavance. kjohn
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davidlan
Newbie
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31. May 2007 @ 12:40 |
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Sure!
1. Click on Start -> Programs -> Nero -> Tools -> Nero ImageDrive. This will open Nero ImageDrive.
2. Check the box to enable the first drive
3. Next, click on the tab that says "First drive"
4. Click the button with the elipsis (three dots) to open a dialog box to select your nrg (disk image) file
5. Navigate to your nrg file
6. Click "Open" to select it
7. Click OK to accept your changes, and close ImageDrive
You should now have an "extra" CD drive (you can see it in Windows Explorer) and if you open Nero to rip, you will be able to see this new drive.
Hope this helps and feel free to get back to me if you get stuck of have any further questions.
David
DavidL
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kjohn73
Newbie
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1. June 2007 @ 10:21 |
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davidlan: You ARE the man!!!!!! After many late nights and vowing to never, ever try to convert anything to anything else - it works!!!!!! I actually converted Part 5 of "Churchill" in its entirety from the friggin' .aa to .mp3!!!! Coincidentally, I find that my fancy new(er) HP m7330n Media Center PC doesn't like the "Image Drive" feature, so I downloaded Nero 7 Trial on my old "Heintz" PC and it worked like a charm. Now, maybe within the next five hundred years, I might consider even uttering the words "Audible.com". To my clouded way of thinking, they have alienated prospective buyers with their antics. For sure, they have given me a reason to think before I buy from them again.
After all, THANKS AGAIN for your help!! kjohn
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davidlan
Newbie
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2. June 2007 @ 07:53 |
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kjohn, you are very welcome!
;-)
Glad to have been able to help.
David
DavidL
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knipknup
Newbie
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3. June 2007 @ 15:05 |
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Fellow audiobook fans...
Don't be too angry at Audible. They provide excellent audio books at way lower prices than you can buy from the bookstore. Isn't that why we go to them?
On one hand, they are in business to make money.
On the other, it probably is a premature conclusion to believe all the compatibility issues are audible's fault. I bet 'those' mp3 player manufacturers aren't willing to have contracts with audible or they don't make one that will support protected formats, but we blame audible. That isn't audible's fault. So many do make players that work with audible that it can't be that difficult for those companies to get on board.
Audible files play on an ipod. None of the online music places do aside from itunes (napster, yahoo, etc).
Also, audible files are compatible with many players. I am surprised your creative player won't work with audible manager. I have two creative mp3 players, and audible recognized them 'out of the box'. You may want to check the creative website for updated drivers if you haven't already. You can also hit up audible customer service about it. I have found their customer service to be top notch.
I use soundtaxi to convert music files so I can play them on my ipod from napster to go. I pay for the service, so they get their money, I just have the wrong type player. Ipods really are the best.
The only places I can't get audible files to play on is my Verizon phone and my xbox360. This is not audible's fault, but verizon's and microsoft's, and for that matter, apple's when it comes to the ipod and itunes. Verizon wants everyone to use their mp3 service and microsoft wants everyone to buy a zune instead of an ipod or other player. I bet audible would happily provide their codec to these companies if these companies were willing.
Audible has a codec for one simple reason, the content providers require it and audible requires it, to protect their product from piracy. You would do the same.
Don't turn away from audible if you enjoy audio books without a bit more effort. I would hate to see your pocketbook get killed by the bookstore.
Also, I joined audible platinum and averaged around $9 per audiobook. Try to do that at a bookstore. I had way more content than I could listen to. I backed off to the $9/yr membership just so I have a year to catch up.
Happy listening!
who dat?
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kjohn73
Newbie
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3. June 2007 @ 18:25 |
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I am having a problem with Nero 7 Trial. It seems to be hit and miss to offer .mp3 format when I try to "convert to other formats" from .nrg. I did two parts of my Churchill book, both showed multiple tracks and it worked fine, converting to .mp3. I tried to do the same with another, smaller part. It shows one track and won't offer .mp3 as a format. Any suggestions??
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