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Most of the help and/or ideas I got from many other websites, but I can't remember where. Anyway, I listen to many audiobooks on CD's, many of which I bought here on eBay. I currently don't a portable CD player. But wait a minute! why not use my iPod? Here I will show you how to convert your audiobook CD's into your iPod 5th generation (may work with other generations as well). I am using Windows XP.
STEP 1
What you need:
STEP 1
What you need:
- the latest iTunes. Go to www.itunes.com (this guide is currently using version 7)
- YOUR audiobooks on CD's.
- Internet (Optional)
- Open up iTunes (once you have the program downloaded and installed into your computer), and insert the 1st CD from your Audibook int your DVD/CD drive player. Hopefully the CD is free from dirt, fingerprints and most of all, heavy scratches. If any of these are present I will guarantee this will make a very poor copy. iTUnes should automatically recognize the CD. I am using Labyrinth by Kate Mose. Title, author and album might not be shown, but don't worry about that yet.
- Now before anything else, we have to make a coupleof changes in our settings. Click on EDIT tab, then PREFERENCES, ADVANCED tab and finally the IMPORTING tab. Here is where you want either have an MP3 or AAC format for your results. MP3 is more common, where AAC is exclusive for iTunes and iPods. These settings will save you hard drive space without affecting voice quality. I've noticed on that each CD will be approx. 49 MB for MP3 format and 32 MB for AAC format.
- If you want MP3 Format: Import Using should be MP3 Encoder, then Setting should be set on Custom. Another window comes up. Stereo Bit Rate: 96 kbps. Using 128 kpbs is overkill, and 96 kbps is fine. Everything else should be default so press OK. That window should close and you are back on the IMPORT tab. Unclick "Play songs while importing or converting". Then press OK. -OR-
- If you want AAC format: Import Using should be AAC Encoder, then Setting should be set on Custom. Stereo Bit Rate: 96 kbps. Again, using 128 kbps is overkill for audiobooks. Click "Optimize for voice", then press OK. That window should close and you are back on the IMPORT tab. Unclick "Play songs while importing or converting". Then press OK.
- Now we are going to correct the Album, Title and Author names. Making sure that the CD is highlighted in iTunes (in my case Labyrinth), go the EDIT tab and then SELECT ALL. Then click on ADVANCED tab and then JOIN CD TRACKS. That way you will have only 1 file per 1 audiobook CD. Trust me, this makes things alot easier. Right click anywhere in the highlighted area and click on GET INFO. Here you will input all the pertinent information needed. A couple of suggestions. I use GROUPING for either Abridged or Unabridged. Make sure that the right Disc Number(s) are shown. Composer is reserved for whoever is the narrator. Make sure Books & Spoken is selected for Genre. Compilation, Remember Position, Skip when Shuffling and Gapless Album is a matter of preference to the user. I personally select NO to all of them. We will be adding Artwork later.
- Now you are ready to convert! Make sure all the file(s) is/are highlighted, go to Advance tab and Convert Selection To MP3 or AAC. Depending how fast your computer and cd/dvd drive player, this may take awhile. I have a Pentium IV 2.6 GHZ and a 52X cd drive player and it takes me ~5 minutes. Sit back and relax.
- You heard a bell! That means it's done! Going to the Music section, you will see the newly made file. Highlight that filename, right click and go to Get Info. We will be making a couple of slight changes. Go to the file name and add the end of it to say , 01/# where # is the number of total audiobook cd's. In my case, Labryinth, 01/16. Also check the Track Number. We want this to match the Disc Number. In my case, 1 of 16. Just a reminder when doing the other audiobook cd's. Make sure the Author and file name matches exactly (except the numbering of course). You want to be consistent. Press OK. STEP 4 and 5 are optional. Go to Step 6.
- This step is completely optional. But I figure once you have gone this far, you might as well go all the way and make sure your audiobook library looks really nice! You can always find the album cover art by going to www.barnesandnoble.com If you found one, right click on the file, go to GET INFO, then the ARTWORK tab. Here is where you enter the picture file by using the ADD button. As far as the Lyrics tab I enter the information from the publisher. Again by going to www.barnesandnoble.com, find your book and most likely you will find "from the publisher". Copy and paste that info.
- This step is optional and if you are only converting to AAC format. Now find where your file is located. If you have problems finding where your file is located, just highlight the filename on iTunes, right click and Get Info and go the Summary tab. On the bottom it should say "Where" and gives you the exact location of the file. Once your file is located, notice the extension says .m4a? We need to change that extension so that iTunes/iPod will recognize it as an audiobook file. Highlight that file, right click and then Rename. Change that extension to .m4b
- Going back to iTunes you have an exclamation point right next to the name. Don't worry! It's because we change the filename extension and iTunes can't find that file name anymore. Double click on the file name on iTunes, press Yes to locate the file and use the file that we have change the extension to .m4b
- Now we are done with the first CD. Follow the same steps for the rest of the audiobook cd's. Once you are done, highlight all the files from the library and add them to your iPod. Enjoy!
Guide created: 03/04/07 (updated 04/17/09)
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