Converting .aa files to mp3's

Thank you, thank you, thank you. After reading the these pages on aa file conversion i can now listen to them on my mp3 player. I also purchased the new version of RiverPast, found the URL for the old version here (5.0.0), downloaded it and paid for it by using the new registartion key.
I don't believe I have done anything illegal. I paid for a service that only I will be using.

 

Cala, in my opinion, you’ve chosen the best procedure. I’m a huge fan of GoldWave, but not everyone who has bought it has been able to use it to directly convert from .aa to .mp3. Even those who can have to display .aa files before saving them as .mp3 files. This is a two-step procedure. If it takes as long as converting .aa to .wav of the same size or fidelity as the MP3 files, it’s a significantly slower process than RiverPast’s direct one-step conversion.

Those of us who use RiverPast just click on a desktop icon to open that application, and then from within it, we select the .aa file we want to convert and press a button. We don’t have to wait for the GoldWave display before saving as MP3.

I went to Adam’s web site (whose content I, too, first saw in late 2003). I see that his system requires you to use GoldWave to convert to .wav first and then to convert from .wav to MP3. His splitter may work better than the splitting capability of GoldWave. I don’t know about that, but my question is what other advantage his system offers, since anyone can use GoldWave alone to convert from .aa to .wav to MPs. You don't need additional software to do that.

What you’ve done, Cala, is entirely ethical, in my opinion. You’re converting Audible material strictly for your own use after paying for the right to use it for your own entertainment. I’m convinced the courts would rule in favor of subscribers who use it that way and in favor of GoldWave too. I’m sorry RiverPast caved in to Audible intimidation. It was also ethical of you, I think, to pay RiverPast for a converter. You paid for the current one, which won't do the job, but the registration key you paid for allowed you to activate a discontinued version that does convert Audible content. I recommend your approach for its fairness as well as for its simplicity and speed of operation.

And everyone who follows your lead will end up with a converter that will definitely work—for everybody—unlike GoldWave, which some people haven’t succeeded with. I use GoldWave frequently for audio editing, however, and it’s the best of the three audio editors I have, an excellent product.

It’s ironic: Audible’s policy may be costing Audible. It inconveniences, offends, and alienates customers and potential customers. It doesn’t prevent piracy. Piracy of Audible material is apparently negligible anyway. And who knows how many people have decided not to subscribe because Audible content isn’t available in MP3 format?

 

Adam,

Saw a link to your site back in '03 on a BBS post that came up during a search query for "audible to MP3 converters" ... or some such string. Even though, it was not exactly what I was originally looking for back then (Nov. 03), I did appreciate the reference (& link) to Goldwave. After using GW & converted a few large files, I realized that I did need Quicksplit (thank you!). I'll have to download the new version because I did find the command line launching a little irritating.

 

Hi Paul,
That's an interesting idea you propose (splitting by file size instead of length). Off the top of my head, one of the problems I can see myself running into is that the amount of compression that takes place during mp3 conversion will vary from file to file, and also depending on what settings you use. On the other hand, looking at some of my split books, I'm noticing that the 15 minute files all seem to be at 3.43MB, and the 20 minute files are all at 4.57MB. Thus the 20 minute file is roughly 4/3 the size of the 15 minute file. So, because we are converting audio books, the filesize vs. time looks pretty linear - I might be able to have it get near a target filesize. If we then tried to split music, it might be off by a lot. Does that make sense?

As a tip, make sure you are saving your .wav files as MONO. If you select stereo, you are getting twice the filesize and NOTHING in return.

Also, how many would find it useful if it saved the split time (step 2) that you previously used, so that you don't have to move it from the default of 20 minutes (used to be 30)?

Any other suggestions?

Finally, I think it is a valid point that Goldwave (I believe) can do what QuickSplit does. I just find it easier with QuickSplit. I just open with Goldwave, do some laundry (takes a while to open), then save with Goldwave (takes a while to save), put laundry in dryer, then split with QuickSplit (nap, fold laundry). The process still takes a long time, but only a few mouse clicks and I don't have to do very much myself, especially thinking-wise.

Thanks for the positive feedback, it definitely brings a smile

- Adam

 

Sounds good, Adam. I should've given QuickSplit a try before mentioning it. I'll install it now. People like you who come up with these little conveniences and then distribute them free don't get the credit they deserve.

 

Hello, M. Phenner.

Because you posted a link to the correspondence between Chris Craig and Audible's attorney, and because you used the phrase "some such" (not that lay persons don't use that phrase, but it seems to be much more common among lawyers), I'm wondering if you're an attorney yourself. If you are, would you mind commenting on the positions taken by the two parties?

Bryan

 

Bryan,

No, I'm not a lawyer ... but I won't hold that accusation against you! ;-)

I don't really have anything to add with regard to the positions taken between Craig & Audible's attorney, beyond agreeing with what you, and others have already said on this board (quite articulately, I might add).

Best regards,
Michael

 

Hi Adam,

I think it would be better to use the last setting for step 2 instead of the default. Because I'm using a flash type mp3 player, it has problem opening large files. I may want to spilt a 7 hr book into 10 mins segment and using the last setting would greatly help.

Thanks for sharing the spiltter.

Paul

 

OK, We know that Audible is great, we all love it, but I hade a problem with one of the CD's that I recorded for my wife, so that she can listen on the way to & from work, disk #5 it was all distored she said. I tried to make a new set and only went up to 3 disks and that is a problem, she is all upset with me because she can not listen to the rest of the book. (I was able to listen to the same book on my Phatnoise MP3 player). WOW waht a book. Now I did convert the file to MP3, how do I get it to a regular Audio CD so that she can finish the book? Is there a application out there for me to split the file and make Audio CD's? Please help me, the Book is "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, real good.
Thank you, Pal369

 

Paladin,
I'd recommend a program calling "Nero - Burning ROM" (get it?) It's really good, and it will automatically convert an mp3 file into an audio file that can be played on any CD. Another program is "Roxio Easy CD Creator", but this one JACKED my computer (hit shutdown...and it reboots. shutdown->reboot. repeat) until I got the bug-fixes. For the agony they caused, I am forever not using that program again, working or not!

So, bottom line - Nero Burning ROM will take care of your problem very easily.

Another nice solution, the one that I actually used for The Da Vinci Code, is to split into mp3. Then download onto mp3 player. *Then*, buy an FM transmitter and listen to the book on your car radio! The FM transmitters can be found on eBay and other places, I'm sure a Google search would work. The brand I use is AudiaX. This way you don't have to burn any more discs, saving time, money, and (yay) the environment

Hope this helps,
Adam

PS: Great book, fun listen

 

Adam, thanks for the help, I have Nero Rom, I will give it a try. I know about the FM converter, I have one of those also, but you know some people like my wife need to have it a simple as possible.

Thanks again

 

Thank you for the great advice. FYI, the most current version of GoldWave (gwave510) that I download last week (3/6 or so...) does not “support” aa (nor does it give the option to view all files…). I was successful in adapting my aa books to mp3 using previous the information on this forum with RiverPast (paid for the software…), and am well on my way to learning my first Java (hello world, how are you?).

I joined this forum to learn how to convert the files for personal use, not to be shared; aa conflicts with other necessary software on my iPAQ and after buring audio CD’s of a few books to listen in the car, I was ready to cancel my Audible subscription. It is simply not worth the time to go the route that Audible offers (10 or so CD’s per book and you might as well have bought it at your local Borders).

Ironically, now that I have this capability, I have increased my subscription to Audible. I now feel comfortable recommending the service to friends. I should have hit Audible where it hurts: on the bottom line and cancelled my subscription to send them a message. I hope that they read this and realize that the options they are currently providing, and the alternatives they are squashing, are indeed hurting their business.

Unfortunately, they have invested substantial resources to the proprietary aa format and are so entrenched that I don’t see them changing. I hope they find a better solution than the quick fix of making it work on my iPAQ. I would hate to see the digital world continue down this current road without feedback from actual buyers/users.

Thanks again all.

 

I liked your post, debermg--especially that you're buying more Audible material now that you can use it more conveniently.

Me too.

 

An interesting aside is that someone from either Audible or Apple, can't remember which, told me that the people that invented (?) MP3 wrote the code for .aa, and thus had a good concept of what they were doing. Probably a over simplification, but interesting nevertheless.........mike

 

Thanks Zac. I meant convey that by removing alternative formats Audible is hurting their business, NOT that the alternatives are hurting their business. I think you all got the idea ;-)

 

OK, I converted the "aa" files to mp3, but now how do I get it to CD's for the wifes car? Somebody recommended Nero Rom, I have that, but I can't find how to break up the file and burn on to regular Audio CD. I think I will cancel my Subsription to Audible and just buy the Books on tape/CD from Barnes & Noble.
Thanks for all the advice.

 

Pal, to answer your question, we need to know whether you are running iTunes? This iPod related program burns CD's from audible, or any other, content automatically, without the trouble of converting them to mp3 format first. You can probably download iTunes directly from Apple without charge. One then just imports any file into the library and then burns the CD(s). The file does not have to be broken up, as iTunes slightly overlaps the content between muliple cd's so one doesn't miss anything....mike

 

Okay, using Nero.
(1) Split the book into the desired length per track.
If you are using QuickSplit, is should name the book like this:
(You "Save As" 'DaVinci.wav' in GoldWave) then QuickSplit makes:
DaVinci1.mp3
DaVinci2.mp3
DaVinci3.mp3 ....

Each will be the desired # of minutes long as specified before splitting.

I'll get around to making it remember your last split setting, btw Just busy right now, sorry.

2. Okay, now open Nero. A "New Compilation" screen should appear. If it doesn't, then File->New.
3. Select "Audio CD". Enter in text as you wish on the right (Disc Title, Artist, etc.)
4. Click the "New" button.
5. Drag over mp3's from the left hand side into the right hand side. On the bottom, you will see how many minutes you have left on the CD. Don't go over the number of minutes your CD can hold!
The mp3 conversion to audio CD is done AUTOMATICALLY. Set it, and forget it (I should be on an infomercial).
6. Burn. Not sure what version of Nero you have, but hold your mouse over the icons on the top and text will appear after a few seconds. You are looking for the one that says "Open Write CD Dialog." Looks kind of like a disc on fire.

That should do it.

 

Paladin - is your problem using a Burning program, or the steps it takes to divide the file up into the CD-length segments? There have been a few links to a nice geocities cite with a helpful tool for doing that, Quicksplit.


For the rest of you, I'm also an audible subscriber (duh, I'm on this thread) that would love to be able to make some nice handy .mp3 cds. I haven't yet purchased River Past's audio converter, and before I do I'd like to ask a few questions. 1) Registering for their new product will indeed activate the previous versions? 2) I the install I have is for 5.0.0: will this version allow me to select the codecs for the output file? 3) What settings have people been using to keep the file sizes of the .mp3s down?

Thanks for the help and friendly discussion.

-J

 

Thank you to everyone for the help, I got it done. I split the file and burned them to CD's so that I can listen to them in the car.

Thanks.