[Windows Mobile Development and Hacking General] itrooper:
How to convert Audible Format 4 (.aa) to .mp3

Let me be clear, this is not a piracy technique, this is a way to use content you already purchased on Windows Mobile based phones/devices in the way you want to use it.

Do Not Steal Software or Content – it’s theft stupid.

This guide will NOT CONTAIN ANY LINKS

Audible “Support” claims that only format 2, and 3 work on Windows Mobile 5/6 Devices, keep in mind that this is because they lock down their format to their player. Format 2, and 3 are low quality MONO audio formats. Format 4 which is the closest to .mp3 and happens to be stereo is not supported…. That really sucks, nothing like listening to 24 hours of mono audio. I pay for their “service” which entitles me to 1 credit every 30 days, in my case 1 audio book. Who cares what device I play it on Audible, my media card is agnostic and does not have hardware limitations. DRM in general really honks me off, so with that in mind I went all google nuts and put together a way that works for me from a few different sources. A small guide on how to do this below:

Step 1 – Gather Resources

You will need to get the following software/stuff to make this work

1. Current paid for Audible Account

2. AudibleManager Software

3. AudibleMediaPlayerFilter.exe (Used to be available from Audible, but sadly they don’t offer it anymore)

4. Goldwave 5.0.6 (Pay, buy it, it is very good)

5. Lame .mp3 encoder (Free)

6. mp3split (Open Source)

7. A beefy Storage Card (8gb MicroSD in my case)

Step 2 – Uninstall/Install/Select/Convert/Split

1. This assumes that you have already downloaded your audio book/books and that you have installed AudibleManager. If you have not done so, install AudibleManager and download your media. Make sure it is format 4.

2. Shut Down AudibleManager

3. Move your freshly downloaded book to a different directory than the current directory I suggest C:\Audiobooks. In Vista the files will be located in C:\Username\My Douments\Audible\Downloads or something close to that. In XP they will be in C:\Documents And Settings\Username\My Documents\Audible\Downloads.

4. Important – UNINSTALL AUDIBLEMANAGER

5. Install AudibleMediaPlayerFilter.exe, in both Vista and XP you will receive 1 or more .dll errors. No worries here, just Google the .dll files you need, they are freely available. Put them in C:\Windows\System32. Then re-install again and repeat until you have no more errors.

6. Install Goldwave, it will complain that there is no encoder present for mp3, that’s ok, just install it. Now go to the program directory that contains Goldwave, it’s in C:\Program Files\Goldwave. Copy the Lame Encoder files to the Goldwave directory. Now go back to your desktop and run the install again, don’t worry just run it, it will not complain about the encoder this time, if it does, try a different directory inside Goldwave.

7. That was the hard part, fire up Gold Wave. It is a really great piece of software, problem is the newest version no longer supports this feature, so you have to use an older version. I would suggest that you register it, I did. I now use it for all my conversion needs.

8. Go to settings and configure your default audio format, don’t get too crazy here Chief, these files are going to be huge, so set a reasonable bit-rate. The quality of format 4 is not that great to begin with. I use a variable bit rate up to 192kbps. That gives me a file size of around 900mb’s per 8 hours of audio.

9. Select Batch from the toolbar\menu, then add the files you downloaded, remember they are in C:\Audiobooks or wherever you put them.

10. Wait a minute home-skillet, there are no files in that directory, change the selection to “all files” and there you go all your files should be there ready for you to select.

11. At this point it will ask you to enter your Audible account information, once it “authorizes” you can proceed.

12. Once you have selected the files, go ahead and start the processing, it will take quite a while to finish. 8 hours of audio takes about 3 minutes for it to initially read and about 25 minutes for it to convert to .mp3. I have a Quad Core (Q6600) with 4gb of ram and the software will use about 1.5gb of memory and all 4 cores. I also did this same process on a Core2 Duo (2.13Ghz) machine with 2gb of ram, it took the same amount of time.

13. Ok, processing is done, install mp3split. I suggest you split the files into 30min segments, it’s pretty straight forward, if you need help there are tons people using this program, just go to Sourceforge and look around.

14. That’s it you are done, you just have to move the files to your device of choice. FYI it will take forever if you are going to do this via Activesync (40-50min). I suggest a card reader.

It seems more complicated than it really is, once you have it up and running it’s pretty painless, just takes a while

Other Method -- The Analog Hole

*Disclaimer* this takes forever, it’s one to one, so 8 hours of audio will take 8 hours to record, plus conversion time.

Programs like Tunebite don’t do anything special that you can’t emulate with open source software like Audacity. It is very much like the olden days of yore where you had to tape stuff off the radio.

1. Download and install Audacity, Lame Mp3 Encoder, AudibleManager and your Audiobooks.

2. Start Audacity, for source select “what you hear” then hit the record button.

3. Start AudibleManager, and play your Audiobook.

4. Go back to Audacity and check your levels, make sure you are not clipping. If the audio goes into the red too often your recording will sound like doggie poop. You may have to start over a few times to get it right.

5. I suggest you unplug your speakers and go take a nap, play some 360, whatever, just make sure you come back by the end of the book.

6. Save the file you recorded as a .mp3 file, wait for it to finish (it will take a while), then split the files if you so desire.

7. Transfer the files to your device.

Pro’s

*The files you end up with are DRM Free and can be played back on anything capable playing .mp3 files.

*You don’t have to use .mp3 if you don’t want to, you could use ogg for example.

*You can pick any splitting point you like to save space on your device.

*You don’t have to use their player, which saves memory.

Con’s

*The difference in file size between .aa and .mp3 is significant, .aa is around 100mb for 8 hrs of audio, while the mp3’s are about 700-900mb. Hopefully Audible will change their mind and add format 4 to Windows Mobile devices, until then this is what I have to do to listen to stereo audio books on my AT$T Tilt.

*It takes some mucking around with .dll files, google, and reading skills, I know some people want an all inclusive piece of software that does this.

You loose the book art and the book-marking feature of the Audible Player. (use your favorite media application to add any art you want)

Bonus Tip#1 – Install software like File Renamer and cut down the filename length and remove your username from the file name, it will make it much easier to read on your device.

Bonus Tip#2 – Use different media players for different things, I use HTC Audio Manager for audio books and S2P for regular .mp3 files.

Bonus Tip#3 – Put your music in a different folder than your audio books, it helps keep everything organized.

Bonus Tip#4 – Keep your purchases DRM FREE, use Amazon for music instead of iTunes. Support the EFF, and don’t steal music/content/software.

This is in no way my work

, just a compilation of other techniques I found using Google. Wait, what’s a Google? Seriously, how did you get here without using Google? I know Live Search and Yahoo are very “neat” looking, but for serious searching please use Google.