|
Converting .aa files to mp3's
|
|
|
sonnen
Newbie
|
1. May 2005 @ 23:30 |
Link to this message
|
I also am an Audible member and would like to use my audible files on the mp3/wma player in the car and my no name mp3/wma player.
I went through the whole discussion and learned that I could use the River Past v 5.0 for converting the audible files. I finally found the trial version 5.0 and could not set a higher bitrate than 56 kb but that would be ok as I could convert into wma format which is fine.
As the trial version 5.0 was working so far, I would like to purchase the registration key, but as I understand one can only purchase registration keys for current RP versions that would not work with v5.0. Is that right? So in short it is not possible to purchase a working registration key and now I can uninstall v5.0 and give up on the whole thing?
Thanks
sonnen
|
|
Advertisement
|
 |
|
|
|
o-rudeboi
Newbie
|
2. May 2005 @ 08:11 |
Link to this message
|
|
You can probably use Riverpast V4 (since Chongpaul mentioned it) but you can also use Riverpast 5.0.0 (which I've been using).
If anyone needs that, I have a 5.0.0 install, but I don't have any webspace to host it, but we could do a file transfer. PM me if you'd like it.
-j
(p.s. - it doesn't sound like anyone wants to go this route, everyone does seem honest and legit, but i won't give out a serial for it, so don't ask...not that anyone seems to be unwilling to pay the $30)
|
|
estrachan
Newbie
|
2. May 2005 @ 08:24 |
Link to this message
|
|
My suggestion is to use goldwave for 40 bucks - their current supported version can convert .aa files . . .
|
|
o-rudeboi
Newbie
|
2. May 2005 @ 14:35 |
Link to this message
|
|
Sonnen
You CAN pay the $30 to Riverpast and use it to validate version 5.0.0. If you are worried about doing this, you can do what I did, and contact them concerning it. The customer service Rep. said that the company had no issues with someone using the older (5.0.0) install and validating it with a paid for account.
So yes, you should be able to validate 5.0.0 with a newly boughten serial.
-j
|
|
partyrock
Newbie
|
2. May 2005 @ 21:24 |
Link to this message
|
|
I just bought a Dell Jukebox just for my AudioBooks (didn't look first) I have 30 gigs and jsut want to put my books on it. I don't care if they're all one track or huge files. Can anyone help?
|
|
sonnen
Newbie
|
2. May 2005 @ 23:19 |
Link to this message
|
Thanks o-rudeboi and estrachan. I followed estrachan´s suggestion and tried the current Goldwave version. It worked perfectly. The current version even allows to select from a wide range of bitrate settings when converting into mp3.
But to tell the truth I am not exactly overwhelmed by Audible. The sound quality of the original audible files is rather poor - as if they where compressed with a 8 or 16 bitrate. The restrictions on the purchased files are enormous and even though I paid for the audio book, I cannot use it according to my requirements. It is like buying a sweater one is only allowed to wear in Walmarkets or streets beginning with an L or F - otherwise it will dissolve in air.
For that doubtful return the price for downloading from audible is too high.
I will rather keep on buying my audio books on CD. The quality is great, the prices are adequate and I can rip and copy them on any player and medium I wish to.
Thanks for your help!
sonnen
|
|
estrachan
Newbie
|
3. May 2005 @ 08:33 |
Link to this message
|
|
here here sonnen - I think I will feedback your opinion to audible . . . do you mind? - they might as well hear it from the street . . .
|
|
sonnen
Newbie
|
3. May 2005 @ 10:41 |
Link to this message
|
|
You dont´t have to tell them, estrachan. :-) That was what I told them when closing my Audible account.
By the way, Golwave didn´t work on all files. 2 out of 3 parts of my audiobook could not be converted - heaven knows why.
I think I´ll give up on the whole thing now. It´s just too time-intensive.
sonnen
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 3. May 2005 @ 10:43
|
|
rmgott
Newbie
|
6. May 2005 @ 22:13 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hi,
Please help. I paid for RiverPast and downloaded the 5.0.0 version from a link on this discussion but it wont accept my activation key. And I can't open the .aa file I want to convert. I know it must be something simple. Please help.
Thanks,
Mandi
|
|
rmgott
Newbie
|
7. May 2005 @ 18:28 |
Link to this message
|
|
Ok, if anybody is still out there. I ended up just loading the new version of RiverPast because I could never get the key to work. It did conver but, it cut off the first few minutes of audio. Can anybody help me with what might be going wrong. I have done goldwave and got it to convert directly from .aa to mp3 as well but when I went to play it it started like two hours in and i couldn't rewind it though it said all of the time was there. Please help me. I am frustrated with this. So many people seem to have gotten it to work for them without losing any part of their books so what am I doing wrong?
Thanks,
Mandi
|
|
chongpaul
Suspended due to non-functional email address
|
7. May 2005 @ 20:14 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hi Mandi,
I'm using goldwave and I've no problem converting. I've used the 2-step method9 (ie. from .aa to .wav and then another program from wav to .mp3.)
Program used: goldwave & lame
I've suspect audible been fiddling around with their files to make it more inconvenient for converting. So maybe that's why you had problem.
Paul
|
|
ozonebaby
Newbie
|
8. May 2005 @ 07:56 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hi Mandy,
I have experienced the same frustration with the files being truncated. Heres the solution believe it or not:
1) Open the .aa file with Windows Media Player
2) hit control P to play it.
3) Hit control S to stop playing
4) Hit control P to check that the file starts at the beginning
5) Hit control S to stop playing
6) Close out Media Player
7) Open the file in gold Wave
8) Hit space bar to ensure that the file starts from the beginning
9) Hit space bar to stop play back
10) Save the file to your desired MP3 settings & you should be good to go!
HTH...Keith
|
|
rmgott
Newbie
|
10. May 2005 @ 06:54 |
Link to this message
|
Thank you ozonebaby - That worked. I knew the .aa file had some sort of placemarker because each time I started it it would play back from where I left off - I just didn't know how to get rid of it.
I have one last question, well actually a few dealing with bitrate and Hz. I have been able to successfully convert directly from .aa to .mp3 but, i wanted to know what the best sample Hz and bitrate for a good medium between quality and size. I found that the original file was "PCM Signed 16bit (whatever that means), 22050 Hz, 352 kbps, Mono." But when I converted to 22050 Hz, 16 kbps (as suggested in some other posts) it sounded metallic, very annoying to listen to. So I tried 44100 Hz(cd rate), 40 kbps and got good sound and a similar file size to the original but I couldn't get goldwave to open it even though I converted it using goldwave. So finally I just tried variations at 22050 Hz (160 kbps = 615 MB, 96 kbps = 369 MB, 64 kbps = 246 MB) But I am wary to go too much lower and the file size is still very large.
So here are my questions: Will lowpass filtering help at the 22050 Hz level and improve quality so I can reduce file size? Is there some reason Goldwave won't open the 44100 Hz, 40 kbps file (I can listen to it but, I want to reopen it to split it using the cue method mentioned earlier - which works remarkably by the way, it picks out silent spots and puts the split there)? What are some suggested rates, I hear alot about the bitrate, but doesn't the Hz affect quality as well? What file size is reasonable for quality and a 256 MB mp3 player, the original size of the file is 122 MB (8 hours and 57 minutes)in .aa?
Anybody who can help would be great.
Thanks,
Mandi
|
|
estrachan
Newbie
|
10. May 2005 @ 07:29 |
Link to this message
|
|
Mandi - I tried using cue on goldware and didn't get anyplace - so I have been using quicksplit to make shorter files - how did you get cue to work . . .
Thanks
|
|
ozonebaby
Newbie
|
10. May 2005 @ 18:01 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hi Mandy,
I get great results with downloading .aa files in format 4 & saving to:
Layer 3
32,000 Hz
32 kbs mono
I don't split files as my player has resume & book marking features so I can't help you there.
Cheers!
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. May 2005 @ 18:04
|
|
enialbw
Newbie
|
10. May 2005 @ 22:35 |
Link to this message
|
|
rmgott
Talk to RiverPast support.
|
|
rmgott
Newbie
|
11. May 2005 @ 07:45 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hello Estrachan,
I got the idea for cue marking from an excerpt in Sadievan's reply (on Pg. 3) of this thread. Let me clarify some of what is said.
1. You convert your .aa file into mp3 first and then open it in goldwave (it should just load up if you convert it with goldwave).
2. Open Tools / Cue Points
3. Click on Auto Cue on the lower right hand side
4. Thresh hold is -32.0 (this defines what is considered silence - below a certain dB)
minimum length is 0.50 (this is the length of the silence)
minimum separation is 3:00.00 (this is how long your segment or tracks will roughly be)
cue placement is 50% (this is how much room you are giving it to find a silent spot - some sections will be 3:04 or 3:02 etc.)
5. Select Ok and it will calculate all of the Cue Points
6. Click on split file, choose the directory you want the split mp3 put into (I recomment a fresh folder so you can find all of the pieces). Click on Use base filename and set the ### marks first and then I just put one word to describe what book it is from. I have found that if you put the ### marks first my cd-mp3 player will read them in numerical order but, if they are last my cd-mp3 player jumbles them all up no matter if they appear in order on the cd (This is from a burned cd - I'm not sure how it will work on my mp3 player I haven't recieved it yet). Click on Use file's current format and attributes.
7. Click Ok and it will record each file, which takes a little while (about 10 seconds per cue/file)
I hope that answers your question. I think it works great because it picks out a pause between words and I don't even notice the break unless your mp3 player inserts a 2 second pause between tracks.
Thanks,
Mandi
Thanks,
Mandi
|
|
harbolt
Newbie
|
23. May 2005 @ 05:43 |
Link to this message
|
|
I was wondering if anyone here could help me. I am totally blind and without sight. I am an audible user and would like to convert my audible files to the MP3 format so that I can load them on my cell phone. I have heard a lot of talk here about how it can be done and over the weekend, I installed River Past 5.0. I have received a code and activated the River Past software. I have tried now on several occasions to convert an audible file to MP3 from this program but it is not working. Could someone please email me or post here the step by step instructions on how to do this with River Past. I am very frustrated and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Brent Harbolt
harbolt@comcast.net
|
|
nerys
Junior Member
|
23. May 2005 @ 17:37 |
Link to this message
|
Is there a way to strip the audible encryption on the Level 4 books WITHOUT converting
on some of them you just loose too much quality converting the level 4 is literally 32khz mp3 just with some DRM added
I have about 500 hours of audible content and at $12.95 a month (I have been with them for years) I spent a LOT of money to get it. I want to use it how I please. that means on my Minidisc player.
Chris Taylor
http://www.zodiacreview.com/
|
|
Mrupp
Newbie
|
27. May 2005 @ 21:36 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hello All,
I was all excited when I joined Audibles about 3 days ago. The first book I downloaded is The Fountainhead which is 35 hours long. It plays fine on Windows Media Player. My plan was to try to get it on 2 CDs in MP3 format. Needless to say, it's been a frustrating 3 days since. I have finally managed to get a working copy of River Past 5.0.0, but when I try to load the .aa file, it says the file "does not contain recognizable audio" I believe I downloaded the .aa with level 2 compression. Does anyone out there have any advice ?
|
|
rmgott
Newbie
|
29. May 2005 @ 15:40 |
Link to this message
|
Hello Mrupp,
The best method I have found is using goldwave because you have more options. I tried RiverPast and it works but I needed to split up my audiobook because to get a decent sound quality the mp3 file ended up a little larger. Plus Goldwave has more options in choosing conversion Hz and bitrate (I had to read up on those to figure out what was going on there - I use 22050 Hz, mono, 64000 kbps). I have found with Goldwave that I can open the .aa file (in the open window under Files of Type select all *.*) it takes my computer about 7 minutes to open the file. Make sure that the .aa file plays from the begining where it says "This is Audible" and then select File / Save As and pick where you want to save it and pick Save as Type / mp3 select the Hz, channel and bitrate. If you use the rates I use the mp3 file will end up about 1/3 to 1/2 larger than the original (it takes my computer aprox. 25 minutes to convert). Then, if you read my earlier response, you can split the file using cue marks to whatever length you desire - the splitting takes about 10 seconds per section at three minute intervals). Then I just drop the section of book I am listening to on my mp3 player and away I go. My mp3 player is only a 256 Mb so I put on as many sections as it will take and every so often I delet ones I have listened to and add new ones to the end (I haven't run out yet). I hope this helps you. Let me know if there is anything else I can help with. I did use riverpast too and so I might be able to help you there.
Sincerely,
Mandi
|
|
rmgott
Newbie
|
29. May 2005 @ 15:47 |
Link to this message
|
|
PS. Mrupp,
I downloaded the .aa file in level 4 compression for the best quality to start from since the conversion takes a little quality away. Oh and I didn't ever get the Riverpast 5.0 version to validate though if you ask they will give you an older key but, I got the newest version to convert for me. I just ignored the warning that pops up and says no recognizable audio.
|
|
ozonebaby
Newbie
|
29. May 2005 @ 16:32 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hi Mandy! !
You are truley the Goddess of .aa conversion.
Smile...Keith
|
|
Mrupp
Newbie
|
30. May 2005 @ 15:50 |
Link to this message
|
|
rmgott:
Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate you taking the time to help. Since posting my question, I did get River Past to work. For some reason the AudibleManager was originally causing some problems. It began giving me error messages about activation and the .aa file stoped working even with Windows Media Player. I finally re-set all activations, and re-downloaded the .aa files (I used Audible level 3 this time). After that River Past worked perfectly and I've been enjoying my books. The combination that's working for me now is AudibleManager 4.0 with RiverPast 5.0.0. After conversion, I'm breaking the MP3 into small tracks with Cool MP3 Splitter and finally burning to CD. One of my books is about 34 hours long and it only takes up about half of one CD. There may be better ways to do it, but I'm happy as a clam with what I've got.
Thanks again.
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
.//bodom
Suspended permanently
|
10. June 2005 @ 09:21 |
Link to this message
|
|
Neph says I need to better the world by sitting in a tub of gasoline and torching myself.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. June 2005 @ 14:26
|
