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Audiobooks as Easy as ABC

Sep 12, 2012  By Shawn Powers
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Whether you love Apple products or think they are abominations, it's hard to beat iPods when it comes to audiobooks. They remember your place, support chapters and even offer speed variations on playback. Thanks to programs like Banshee and Amarok, syncing most iPod devices (especially the older iPod Nanos, which are perfect audiobook players) is simple and works out of the box.

The one downside with listening to audiobooks on iPods is that they accept only m4b files. Most audiobooks either are ripped from CDs into MP3 files or are downloaded as MP3 files directly. There are some fairly simple command-line tools for converting a bunch of MP3 files into iPod-compatible m4b files, but if GUI tools are your thing, Audio Book Creator (ABC) might be right up your alley.

ABC is a very nice GUI application offered by a German programmer. The Web site is http://www.ausge.de, and although the site is in German, the program itself is localized and includes installation instructions in English. The program does require a few dependencies to be installed, but the package includes very thorough instructions. If you want to create iPod-compatible audiobooks, ABC is as simple as, well, ABC!

______________________

Shawn Powers is an Associate Editor for Linux Journal. You might find him chatting on the IRC channel, or Twitter

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New version!

abc's picture
Submitted by abc (not verified) on Sun, 10/14/2012 - 15:41.

Today I released version 0.0.2 :)

With this updated version you are able to create audiobooks directly from CD, too.
Get it here

Greetz,
Andreas

Your work is so perfect.I

Pilar's picture
Submitted by Pilar (not verified) on Wed, 10/03/2012 - 04:49.

Your work is so perfect.I think that you are so genius.
voyance gratuite tarot

Tranfer CD format to iPod

welchco's picture
Submitted by welchco (not verified) on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 07:58.

A self-help audio - Guaranteed IQ comes with fun games and methods that will help you raise your IQ and train your brain. Exercises taught are simply daily activities that will assist your memory and improve your creativity. To learn more about Guaranteed IQ,check it out at http://www.speakingaudiobooks.com

For some people, the only problem is this audio is that it available on 2 CD’s. Does anyone know how one can transfer this format to an iPod?

IPod is a world of horror on linux.

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 12:14.

I've had my ipod nano for years, and do NOT recommend it for linux. I'vegiven up on trying to make it work.

But I think Sansa from sandisk also remembers where you were and allows you to alter the speed. I havent tried one, though.

perfect!

wngdh's picture
Submitted by wngdh on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 23:41.

perfect!

Why converting to Apple format? Use Rockbox

IlCensore's picture
Submitted by IlCensore (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 17:50.

Rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org/) is an Open Source firmware for several mp3 players (Apple, iriver, SanDisk, Toshiba and many others) that is useful for audiobook playing and accepts ogg vorbis, mp3, and several other formats.

iPod

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 15:56.

Booo hisss. No ogg vorbis support, no support from here.

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