Converting Audible (.aa) Files: No Searching Involved

Kinda strange. I can download fine with the old Audible Manager and the old media filter: i.e. I don't have to install their current AM to download books from them. I wonder what's going on.

 

I'm running Vista, what are you running? Hell, we could have identical pc's with the same OS and there could still be some minute difference between the two of us. If all I have to do is install and uninstall the current audible, I'll be happy. Your stuff has helped a great deal.

 

I am no longer able to download Audible files using Audible Manager 3.5. When I attempt to download a file, it says "invalid parameters". I went to Audible's website to see what this means, and the site says (no surprise) that I get the message because I'm using outdated software, and I have to download the latest version of Audible Manager.

It looks as if, unfortunately, Audible has "fixed" the AM 3.5 workaround.

 

Yep - they "fixed" their "problem". I'm gonna try the following: I have one PC (on a small home network) running the new version of Audible Manager for downloading. I've downloaded a book to a shared folder on that PC using their new AM. I can play it on that PC as an .aa file and maybe, in theory, open it for conversion to mp3 on another network PC on which I've been running the old AM and WMP Filter. If that doesn't work I'll play with some other possibilities but, to be honest, I'm kinda getting tired of having to play this little game with them. If it costs me too much effort and hassle I'm canceling the damned account.

I've been purchasing and downloading books every month for over three years now. I've converted every book to mp3 and never offered any of them to anyone so as not to screw them. Now, I've pretty much had enough of their protectivism bullshi*. F'kem. They're gonna lose $250+/year from this ole boy [and maybe I'll just consider putting all those three years worth of books up on a file-sharing website and post the link all over the internet]

 

I think that if you review what ut1880h has written and what I've written you can find a workaround. By using ut1880h's zip file, I can both download and rip to mp3, so far, anyway. The next time I want to download, I'll have to install the new audible manager. Than to rip, I will uninstall it, install the audible filter for ut1880h's zip, and if it works like the last time, I will be good to go.

 

As Leo Laporte always says, copy protection only helps the bad guys, who already know how to break the DRM anyway. All of us honest folks get screwed.

Here's a workaround I devised:

I installed the latest version of Audible Manager on my home PC. That will be the machine I'll use to download files from Audible. My laptop does not have Audible Manager installed on it - that is the machine I will use for file conversion. I've installed the Audible file filter that UT provided in his kit on my laptop.

I downloaded some Audible files on my home PC, dropped them to my thumb drive, and then loaded them on my laptop. Since Audible Manager is not installed on the laptop, the files aren't "restricted" there. I can then use the software of my choice (Goldwave, MelodyCan, etc) to convert the files on the laptop. It's kind of a pain not having Audible Manager on the laptop (especially if I buy an audiobook while I'm on the go), but it's a workable solution for anyone who has more than one PC. Otherwise, you're installing and uninstalling Audible manager, which can probably be rough on your hard drive and registry.

 

This "kit" that linkvoid is offering is full of trojan viruses, just a heads up.

 

Or you can use Total Recorder as I suggested in the fourth post in this thread...

 

Tunebite is another good program if you don't mind recording your Audible material in real time. Unfortunately, that's the problem. If you have, say, a 7-hour audiobook, then you need to set aside 7 hours where your computer can record the book (I guess it can be done overnight). I, however, prefer the programs which convert the material to standard MP3 in a fraction of the time - say a program which encodes at 24X or higher.

 

It's usually the encoding speed that slows things down. My laptop runs about 8X using LAME at a high bitrate VBR setting, up to about 20X for 22 KHz 64 Kb mono CBR (my audiobooks profile).

 

If I leave my laptop alone, I can usually encode a 7-hour audiobook in about an hour using MelodyCan. The trick is to move the .aa file to a computer that doesn't have Audible Manager installed. I'll download the file on my home PC (which has Audible Manager installed), drop it to a thumb drive, then load it onto my laptop (which doesn't have AM installed).

 

Does anyone know if you can have two audible accounts on one computer and download with either of them?

 

Hi!

Anybody who wants an Audible book without DRM, in plain MP3, mail me your login name (not password!) and the book's URL. I'll reply with a download link. The MP3s will be the same size as original book, ID3-tagged, no transcoding, one file per chapter - will play in ANY player, no DRM, no watermarks. I'm the one who cracked the protection.

It doesn't cost you anything, you just download from an anonymous upload service of your choice (can be Sendspace, 4Shared, RapidShare, MegaUpload, whatever). It's perfectly safe - you don't provide any personal info, no passwords, nothing against the rules. Everything in confidence via anonymous email.

You still have to buy your books as usual, of course - this is about Fair Use, not stealing. But when you do, you will really own them. Just when we're done, please, at least drop a line back here so everybody can see that it works!

What's in it for me, you ask? I upload free MP3, I keep a copy -- we both benefit.

PS: Other, less practical/more paranoid, way is to download AA files yourself, zip, upload to SendSpace.com or similar (not RapidShare!) and mail me URL of that upload. This way, you don't have to provide any info about you and it's completely anonymous. Although it means download+upload+download for you, instead of just one download, those files are quite small and you can check my genuineness safely.

See you!

 

I believe your offer would be copyright infringement. There will be another person with copy of the book that was not paid for. I'm converting to mp3 for convenience and not to distribute to others.

 

One more thing -- I can also help those of you who unsubscribed from Audible and were left with unusable AA files. Just upload your collection somewhere and mail me.

I don't insist on anonymous upload services; with their arbitrary download limitations and stuff, they are the least preferable option, actually, so if you wish to use something else (e.g. Usenet, FTP, WebDAV, etc) we can do that. The only exception being P2P - too slow, too messy, too much work: not supported.

Audible content is great because it's very space efficient, they really got the file size to minimum. That's why I believe people will be interested in this, even without expired memberships. Converted files are water-marked (i.e. traceable), huge, worse quality and it takes a lot of time. Not to mention the chapter boundaries, meta-data and cover art are all lost in the process. It's a pain in the ass.


PS: I was thinking about the online storage and Usenet would be the best option, probably. We could, in private, pick up one of the unused groups and use it to share our stuff. Just an idea, you can safely ignore it. Plus, most people don't have Usenet access, so it wouldn't work anyway.

 

You are too much. Even if you no longer are a subscriber, your downloads remain in your library and you can download them again and you can put them on the device you chose. We don't need your help to do this.

What you are proposing is copyright infringement...it's stealing.

 

Copyright infringement is something else. Like if you wrote a book and then I would steal and publish it, saying I wrote it. What I was talking about is the electronic equivalent of borrowing a book (and possibly scanning a copy) -- commonplace like 10 years ago. This is the exact same thing, although our corporate lobby-driven "digital millennium governments" would like to have us believe otherwise.

I'm not pushing anybody, don't get me wrong. I've helped two friends of mine, who had almost a grand invested in a useless pile of AA files after they unsubscribed. That wasn't fair. We pay for a book and we can do whatever we want with it - even lend it. It's ours. We pay the same amount of money for an electronic version and we may not even decide how to use it? It's rented for a limited time -- while you keep paying. Audible situation isn't wholly about the law, it's their Terms we have to accept to get in. Anti-circumvent-DRM laws just give them the ammo. I don't like it and I won't stand for it.

I strip my AA files as soon as I download, because once I've bought them, I have the right to listen to them on the operating system / player of MY choice. That's all there is to it. For me, that is.

I accept your position, even thought I don't share your enthusiasm. You are doing the same thing, circumventing their protection. It doesn't matter if you just keep one copy on your drive privately, or if you do it for somebody else. Either way, it's against the accepted Digital Rights Management rules of the publisher and consequently, the DMCA act.

I do not wish to start a flame here, each of us has a different point of view and means to get what we want -- I'm OK with leaving it that way. Anyway, thank you for your contribution, seriously.

See you around

 

Unfortunately, not true. Once you stop paying you've got like a month or two to say bye or start paying up. After that period, your library and online authorizations are gone. I mean, you obviously don't know what you're talking about, both Audible policy and what constitutes a copyright infringement, that's why I'm explaining. I could even quote their emails to support this fact, but as I said, I do not wish to start a quarrel. Better stop now.

Good luck with your way of circumventing the protection. Still, one has to wonder why would need to do such a thing when "you can put them /AA files/ on the device you /legally/ chose".

Bye

 

How are the files watermarked & maybe traceable? I wonder if the watermarking still exists if the books are burned into audio CD's with Nero Burning Rom?

 

The best one and the most universal is 'rename'. It's a tiny Perl script,
which allows you to apply arbitrary regular expression(s) to selected files.
You can download it here.

You'll also need Active Perl installed, the most basic installation will suffice.
It's a free download [15MB], registration not required.

You'll have to know the basics of regex matching. Here's an example how to use it:

c:\> rename.pl 's/^(\d+)\./$1 - /' *.*

This will rename any file beginning with digits and a dot ("10. Song A") to digits-hyphen ("10 - Song A"). There is no limit to what you can do with regular expressions. You can mix, add, remove, etc any part of the name and transform it completely beyond recognition. On the other hand, not many programmers know regular expressions. Only the really good ones.

You can try this neat guide for beginners on the Windows platform or the official documentation (multiplatform).

Not many people are willing to acquire new skills. You might settle for less universal solution in a shiny GUI package, but take it from the hardcore system programmer that it doesn't get more powerful than regular expressions.