I plan to put it on my empeg somehow...
http://www.audible.com/freebizmag/freecarlin

Now THAT is a nice find. I have the book already and I'd love to have it on my Empeg. Thanks for the info!

Oh man. I hate giving my credit card information for crap that's free. Ok, who wants to host this book and let me d/l it?

(it is free, so I don't think piracy is an issue)

I already had an account on Audible and downloaded it. Unfortunately the stupid thing is in .aa (audible) format and now i'm trying to find a way to convert it to mp3. Any ideas?

Well they have a pretty little icon saying "this is burnable." I'm guessing they have some software to burn that format to a CD, at which point it would be rippable.

Though I bet there's already some kind of software to convert the AA format to WAV or MP3. This is probably FAQed at riocar.org.

Greetings!

I would be curious about your results with the audible files. The only alternative I have found (other than playing everything real time and capturing / redirecting the audio) is to burn out the files to CD and re-rip. The problem there is that every CD I have tried that with, the last few tracks are distorted, as though my burner or the burner software built into the audible player looses sync with the data...

This is a quote I found here


" : …First download and install the GoldWave sound editor (demo) from goldwave.com. Also download the "Lame" mp3 encoder (also from goldwave) and install it in C:/windows/system. After both are installed run the GoldWave program, hit the "Open" button and locate your Audible files. (If you do not see them choose the "all file types" option, and they will appear. The program will slowly analyze the file. When it is done go to file>saveas, and choose .mpeg as the new file type. The program will now slowly convert the file to mp3. The whole process is a bit time consuming, but I am stuck on a boat in Alaska for six months a year, so it is well worth the trouble. Also check out www.audiobooksforfree.com. All their stuff is alredy in mp3 and it may save some effot. "

I've used goldwave before and it's pretty good.

Oh man. I hate giving my credit card information for crap that's free.

I didn't have an existing Audible account and I downloaded it without entering a CC.

Thanks Matt trying that at the moment.
Thanks for the nice find rob.

I too didn't have to provide CC info, and I have never used them before.

HOW??

wow, i'm stupid. ok I got it.

anyone got the mp3 yet ?

yup, and loaded on my empeg. Course i'm at work so can't really listen to it yet. But if you got somewhere I can uplaod it to, i'll be glad to.

The only alternative I have found (other than playing everything real time and capturing / redirecting the audio) is to burn out the files to CD and re-rip.

Jeez, people, I know I mention Total Recorder at least twice in the FAQ... And it's come up, like, about a hundred times on the BBS...

Greetings!

I know, but that is real time. I got a few books (well, 8) from Audible, totaling about 55 disks after using the audible software to burn them. I do not want to go through that real time twice, if I can avoid it...

If I recall correctly, sometimes (depends on the playback application) Total Recorder lets things work faster than real time. Takes advantage of a quirk in the driver...

And anyway, even in realtime, isn't Audible->TotalRecorder faster than Audible->CDR->Ripper?

Greetings!

I am not certain. I have not used Total Recorder before. As to the real time, sitting in the office I can (and already did) burn out the CDs. Not that they are any good (see above...), but I can let that run in the background on the system here.

A direct file conversion, if possible, would be best. If goldwave can do it, that would save a lot of hassle.

They have Hitchhikers Guide and 1984 for free too!! Click the Free Audio link at the top of the page. Sweet! Thanks for the find Rob.

hmmm...

every time i try and convert the file to mp3 it comes out with Carlin sounding like a chipmunk. The wav sounds fine, but no matter what kHz setting or bitrate, or program I use to convert wav to mp3 it comes out sounding the same. Oh well. I can just use the wav anyway.

Ohhh...strike that. I just used Nero's converting option and it worked like a charm. Now its 138 Mb instead of 381 Mb. Super.

Your MP3 software is expecting a 44khz 16-bit Stereo file, and the WAV is something other than that. What did you use to produce the WAV?

Its all good now, 'cause I'm a super smart genius.

Tony, you probably want to update the FAQ for this one...

They have Hitchhikers Guide

Not as much fun as the original BBC radio show, though. You should be able to find that on MP3 too.

If I recall correctly, sometimes (depends on the playback application) Total Recorder lets things work faster than real time. Takes advantage of a quirk in the driver...

I just tried this by playing one of those free recordings from Audible.com through Windows Media Player and the Total Recorder driver, and it seems to work... Haven't listened to the resulting file yet, but that sort of thing has worked for me before...

Well, when I listened to the file it was messed up, so I guess that feature doesn't work with Windows Media player. Maybe they've improved it in later versions of Total Recorder or something. Anyway, there is a feature in Total Recorder that allows you to rip faster than real time if the phase of the moon is correct. For the Audible file I tried, I needed to go realtime with it.