Audiobook problems
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CookieCrumb




Posts: 4670
Location: Celephaïs
PostPosted: Wed, 16th Dec 2009 00:12    Post subject: Audiobook problems
First off, I didn't know where to put this, it's not (entirely) application related and it's not hardware so I'll just put it here.

I've been downloading some audiobooks which are almost always in .mp3 format. Which is fine and dandy until I try to put them on my iPod. Because then they just show up as "music" not as "audiobooks".
So I merge the 300 something mp3 into one big mp3 and tell iTunes to convert it.
Et voila! A m4a file which can quickly be renamed to m4b so itunes and my iPod recognize it as an audiobook.
Problem is, the thing has no cover so I load it up into chapter master (which I briefly used to create chapters within the m4b file but apparently the merging process of the mp3 fucks up the length the chapters are all wrong).
Anyway, I load the file up in chapter master add the cover save it and BAM!
The file which (as merged mp3s and a m4a) had a length of 47 hours 48 minutes and something something seconds now has a length of 20 hours something something.
But it's not as if the files is cut off. If I skip ahead to the "end" of the audio file it keeps playing but doesn't show the correct playtime.
I could listen to the end of the 48 hours and it would still say 20 something hours.
Now. I hope my problem is somewhat clear and I hope there's somebody here who can tell me how to fix that becaus google wasn't very helpful today (giving me 3-5 year old articles and bullshit that didn't help me at all).
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The_Leaf




Posts: 1542
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Wed, 16th Dec 2009 17:28    Post subject:
I don't have an iPod, but I struggled with m4b files before, basically for a problem opposite to yours: I wanted to bring them back to mp3 preserving chapterization.

The point is, there is a limit to m4b files that is 5hrs. This is the limit that ensures it will play on any iPod. But its not "written in stone", and basically iPods will play even longer files, but "undeterministic" behaviour may arise.

To say it plain and simple: m4b is a crappy format, it's a badly documented hack of m4a files Apple invented to have an easy (read: lazy) way to turn m4a into an audiobook-friendly format, and players will pretty much do whatever the fuck they want with it... or at least that's what I found out while trying to find documentation on this format some times ago.
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DXWarlock
VIP Member



Posts: 11422
Location: Florida, USA
PostPosted: Mon, 21st Dec 2009 10:01    Post subject:
ohhh there the problem in your second sentence:
"until I try to put them on my iPod"

not a mac hater mind you blindly hating macs.. but have had 2 ipods people gave me for gifts thinking I wanted them..and nothing but trouble from them and the craptastic itunes...

converted to a zune for at home and a zen for when im flying for my job, and its been smooth sailing since.


-We don't control what happens to us in life, but we control how we respond to what happens in life.
-Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. -G. Michael Hopf

Disclaimer: Post made by me are of my own creation. A delusional mind relayed in text form.
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