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Audiobook Converter for Mac helps record copy-protected video, music and audio books in WMV, WMA, M4P, M4V, M4A, AA, M4B formats by playing them and save as unprotected MP4, MP3, WMV, WMA or OGG file, so you can enjoy the purchased music and audiobooks anytime anywhere and also share with your family!
On the other hand, there are a decent number of websites and services that provide a large collection of good quality audiobooks, free of cost. And if you’re an avid listener, chances are that you already have an audiobook collection of your own.
Now, most of these free audiobook libraries on the Internet generally provide their content in MP3 format. And for many users, this may not be much of a concern, as the files can be played back on just about any media player. But for a dedicated listener, small features like chapter navigation and bookmarking are important. And an MP3 file, on its own, just can’t provide those.
In this article, we’ll explore how you can create your own audiobooks with complete support for chapters and bookmarks.
Page Contents
- 3 Optimize your audio files for the audiobook
M4B – The audiobook file format
A file with an M4B extension, is an AAC encoded, MPEG-4 audio file, usually used within the Apple ecosystem to bundle audiobook files. In addition to storing audio content, M4B file format also supports digital bookmarking (so that you can resume listening from the point you left off last time), and chapter markers (a feature similar to that found in DVDs).
The source of your audiobook
Typically, your audiobook will be a bundle of one or more audio files, created from either of the following sources:
- One or more audio files in WAV / MP3 format downloaded from one of the many online repositories that provide free downloadable audiobooks.
- If you have a good voice and have a good quality microphone, you may also try recording your own audiobooks in WAV / MP3 format.
- There are a few programs like Audiobook Creator that allow you to convert EPUB, PDF ebooks to audiobooks through built-in text-to-speech engines.
Note: If you like to read audiobooks, there are a lot of options to try it out as a professional career. For more information, you can refer to this guide.
Once you’ve got the source audio files, you need to convert the audio files into M4B, while adding chapters and other features that you’d usually associate with audiobooks.
Optimize your audio files for the audiobook
Your audio files might require some additional processing in order to be audiobook-ready. If you have a single file for a multi-chapter book, you need to split the file into multiple ones in line with each chapter. Additionally, if your source file is WAV, it is recommended to convert into AAC that will take less space on your hard drive.
These processing steps could be performed using any audio editing app. In this example, we’ll use iTunes (macOS and Windows).
Convert MP3 / WAV to AAC in iTunes
- Download and install iTunes if you don’t already have it.
- Open iTunes Preferences, and click Import Settings in the General tab.
- Select Import Using: as AAC Encoder, and select a suitable encoding bitrate. Ideally, 64 kbps should be decent enough for audiobooks.
- Import the source audio files into iTunes by drag and drop.
- Select the tracks to convert and click on File >> Convert >> Create AAC version. A duplicate file will be created in AAC format.
You can further organize the audio files in iTunes by updating the Title, Chapter and Author of the audiobook. To do this:
- Select a particular audio file (or a group of files) and selectGet Info. If multiple items were selected, click on Edit Items on the popup prompt.
- Go to the Options tab and select media kind as Audiobook.
- Now go back to Details tab and provide the book details.
- Click OK. The file will move to the Audiobook section of iTunes.
Note: If you need to split your audio file into multiple chapters, you need to perform additional steps before creating the AAC version. Refer to the next section for more details.
When you import MP3 audiobooks into iTunes or iPod, they will be categorized in the Music section, and not audiobook section. Then your MP3 audiobooks may be mixed with other music and not appear in iTunes audiobook section. Now here are two ways for you to Convert MP3 to Audiobook. Then you can remember playback position and adjust your listening speed on audiobook players.
- Method 1: Convert MP3 to Audiobooks Section in iTunes
- Method 2: Convert MP3 to Audiobook Files with iTunes
Method 1: Convert MP3 to Audiobooks Section in iTunes
You can get MP3 audiobooks on online websites. For Audible adherent, you can use Audible Converter to convert Audible to mp3 audiobooks. Then using iTunes, you can easily make any audio files include MP3 audiobooks displayed in iTunes audiobooks section and acted as audiobooks. Of course, iTunes can remember where the audiobook file last stay. I use iTunes 12.6 to help writing this method.
Here are the detailed steps to make MP3 detected as iTunes audiobooks:
Step 1: Add Audio Files into iTunes
Launch iTunes. Dragging and dropping MP3 audio files into iTunes. Find added audio files in 'Music > Recently Added' catalog.
Step 2: Set Playback Option
Right-click the audio file. Choose 'Get Info' option. Click 'Options' from the pop-up window. Choose playback options of 'Remember playback position' and 'Skip when shuffling' under Music media kind.
Tip: For multiple file conversions, select all audio files by dragging a rectangle over them with the mouse. Right-click and choose 'Get Info' option. Click 'Edit Items' option from the pop-up window.
Step 3: Change Media Kind to Audiobook
Change Media Kind from Music to Audiobook. Click 'OK'. The audio file will disappear in the current Music section and displayed in 'Books > Audiobooks' catalog.
This method doesn't change the MP3 audio file itself. That is to say, if you delete the audiobook files from the iTunes library after above steps, you must re-follow this method again. Otherwise, the audio files cannot be detected as audiobooks. And for other audiobook players, the above steps are invalid. So, Method 2 is necessary.
Method 2: Convert MP3 to Audiobook Files with iTunes
In this method, you can create audiobook from MP3 files. As a mp3 to audiobook converter, iTunes is great. Even though the created audiobook files are deleted from iTunes library, you can import them from local into iTunes or other players with audiobook features. And there is no need to operate on the original MP3 file again as long as you have stored the created M4B audiobook files.
Following are the steps to convert MP3 to iTunes audiobook format.
Step 1: Download & Install iTunes
Download iTunes free in Apple official website. iTunes can be used in Windows and Mac OS. And there is no doubt you can easily install it.
Step 2: Import Audio Files into iTunes
Open iTunes. Drag and drop MP3 files into iTunes. Choose 'Music' section. The imported MP3 files will appear in 'Recently Added' catalog.
Or click 'File' option on the navigation bar. Choose 'Add File to Library' or 'Add Folder to Library' to import MP3 audio files. The imported files will be displayed in 'Recently Added' catalog of the Music section.
Step 3: Choose AAC Encoding Format
Click 'Edit > Preferences' from the navigation bar. Then click 'Import Settings' option from the pop-up 'General Preferences' window. Choose 'AAC Encoder' from the drop-down box next to 'Import Using'. And click 'OK'.
Step 4: Convert Audio Files to AAC Version
Select the imported MP3 files. Click 'File > Convert > Create AAC Version' from the navigation bar. Then iTunes will convert the imported MP3 files to AAC version files.
After the top conversion progress bar is completed, the generated audiobook file will be displayed below the original files with the same name. The suffix of the generated file is .m4a.
Step 5: Rename M4A to M4B
Right-click the generated files. Choose 'Show in Windows Explorer' option to find it on your computer. Make a copy of the .m4a file. Then rename the suffix of the copy file from .m4a to .m4b by yourself.
Step 6: Add M4B Audiobook into iTunes
Drag and drop the M4B file into iTunes. Then the M4B file will automatically display in 'Books > Audiobooks' section.
M4B file can be identified as audiobooks. And iTunes can remember playback position of M4B files without any extra procedure. In addition to iTunes, you can also play M4B files with other audiobook players including iPod.
If you just want to categorize MP3 audiobooks in iTunes audiobooks section, Check Method 1.
If you want to get an audiobook version file of MP3, Check Method 2.
With above two methods, you can easily convert MP3 to audiobook files in iTunes. Are they effective for you? Look forward to your comments. If you like it, sharing is great.
Grace Sue A reading enthusiast. Always pay close attention to the world of Ebook. Devote myself to share everything about e-book and favorably receive any suggestions.