[Deuterium]

I just downloaded my first audiobook (from Audible.com) for use on my iPOD. Unfortunately, this book is an unabridged version that is a 22 hour long MP3 file. Is there a way that I can break this file up into "chapters" or at least smaller pieces so that I can move to different parts of the file? Thanks.

 

[atart]

heard good things about Absolute MP3 Splitter

not free though, but you do get that free trial period

 

[blessingx]

Deuterium, could you describe a bit more why you want to split the files. There are a few of us Audible users here and maybe there's another solution to physically splitting up the file. BTW, normally a book of that length would have come in at least three files (all bookmarkable).

BTW, depending if you bought the Audible book from iTunes or Audible.com it will come in protected mono AAC or MP3 files.

 

[Deuterium]

Thanks for your responses. I bought it from Audible. Quite simply, the book is very long. I will probably want to listen to some of it, stop it, use the iPOD for something else and return to the book at a later time. I would like to have some way to return to the book at the part I have completed rather than listening from the beginning. This book did not come in multiple pieces, just one 22 hour long file.

This is the first time I have used Audible books, but honestly, if I can't break them up, I may have to buy CDs which probably come in chapters.

Bye the way, I am using iTunes on the Mac OS.

 

[Deuterium]

Is there a way to move to a specific time point in a file on the iPOD? This would solve my problem.

 

[ckacosta]

I have never heard of audible using MP3 files. Audible books come in a protected .aa format. These will load onto the iPod as-is. They are protected, so you will need to supply a username/password to load them onto the iPod. They are bookmarkable as-is. You can 'read', then switch to music, then read more and the bookmarking works perfectly.

If you really have .mp3 files, they will need to be converted to bookmarkable AAC (.m4b) format. MP3 files are not bookmarkable and are not protected, so audible does not use them.

It is also very surprising that an entire 22 hours would come on one file. The 50+ books I have purchased were all split into 8 hour chunks.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

Audacity is a free program that works very well. It's alot of leg work but you can cut out and save exactly how you want your files.

 

[blessingx]

.aa are protected mp3 files if you look into them. I mentioned both because of possible quality differences and playback on older models.

Deuterium, as mentioned the files are bookmarkable as is, so there isn't really a reason to cut them up. If you stop and move to music and come back you will start by default at the same spot (BTW this is achievable with any MP3 or AAC file with recent iTunes [ckacosta the requirement to make .m4b has gone away] - get info, options, then click on 'remember playback position'). As for moving back and forth you just have to click the center button a few times and use the scroll wheel.

Hope this all makes since.

For those on a Mac that want to get the files out of the crippled status, try Audio Hijack.

 

[Deuterium]

Thanks all. Your comments have been quite helpful.

The files do have aa extensions, so they are protected files. I called them MP3 files, because when I highlight them and went to get info, they are called MP3 files. I didn't realize that these files remembered playback position. That is quite helpful. After a first listen, it would still be useful to be able to drop into the middle of the file.

I downloaded a few books to start. Most were broken up, but this one file was just a single 22 hour file.

Thanks again.

 

[Deuterium]

BlessingX. Thanks again. I have now tried the center button and the scroll wheel. That works for my needs. I appreciate your helpfulness.