Add speed control to imported audiobooks on 4G iPods

Nov 17, '04 09:03:00AM

Contributed by: ebteksystems

A great new feature in fourth-generationd iPods is a category specifically for Audiobooks, which allows you to speed up or down the rate at which the book is read. Unfortunately, this feature is only available for books purchased from Audbile.com. You cannot use it with imported audiobook CDs or MP3s/AACs as well ... until now. T The following steps will allow any audio files to be available in the Audiobooks section of your iPod:

  1. Combine all tracks into one single MP3/AAC file. This can be done in a few different ways. The easiest is to use this script in iTunes to splice all tracks together. The more complicated, but guaranteed way, is with Quicktime Pro. Open all tracks in Quicktime, start with track 1, scroll to the end of the track. Open track 2, Select All, Copy, and then Paste at the end of track 1. Continue with all tracks until finished. You will then need to export this to either a WAV or AIFF.

  2. Import into iTunes and Convert to AAC with the appropriate bit rate (48kbs should be fine).

  3. Use this script (or the process in this hint) to make the new AAC file "bookmarkable." This means that when listening to the book (in iTunes or on the iPod), when you stop listening and come back to the book later, it will resume at the previous ending point. Just like Audible.com books!

  4. Find the AAC file in Finder and change its extension from .m4a to .m4b

  5. Remove the book from the iTunes library. Do not delete from the hard drive.

  6. Reimport the new .m4b file into iTunes and sync with your iPod.

You will now have this book available in the Audiobooks section of the iPod, and have all the functionality of Audible.com books, without the DRM! Enjoy.

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