How to join multiple tracks into a single audiobook file
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago by AldereteIf you follow the instructions I offer for importing audiobooks on audio or MP3 CDs into iTunes, you end up with a single album with the title of the book, that is composed of sequentially numbered tracks, which make up the chapters or discs of the book. These separate tracks are kind of painful to manage on an iPod (the iPhone and iPod Touch make it a little easier), and are definitely not aesthetically pleasing when viewed in lists in iTunes. One of the most common questions I get from readers is how to merge all of the tracks into a single file, ideally with chapter marks at the right places.
This post isn’t a thorough tutorial on how to accomplish this, merely an expansion of the existing FAQ on the subject. There are all kinds of extra details you might want to consider if you’re as anal retentive as I am about getting all those details “right.” Still, this should give you most of what you would want to know.
For Windows Users
If you are using iTunes on Windows, there is a free tool called MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter that will allow you to take a collection of MP3 tracks, and do two things:
- Merge the tracks into a single, long track.
- Convert the track from MP3 to AAC, and change the file type to make iTunes consider it an audiobook.
There are some limitations. First, you need to start with your audiobook tracks in MP3 format, not AAC format as my instructions recommend. Just choose the MP3 encoder when you set your iTunes import settings, instead of AAC, before you import your audiobooks. Second, the tool does not add chapter marks in between the tracks. It’s one long track. While iTunes and your iPod will save your place, allow you to speed up or slow down playback, and let you scrub through the track, there’s no navigating by chapters, i.e., clicking forward or backward to skip to the next chunk.
For Mac Users
If you are a Mac OS X user, you have two options, one free and very good, one $10 and outstanding. First the free Join Together AppleScript application put together by Doug Adams of Doug’s AppleScripts for iTunes.
I’ve written about Join Together previously, so I’ll keep this to the pluses and minuses. On the plus side:
- It works within iTunes (with a separate application for entering audiobook information).
- It handles AAC and MP3 files equally well, and turns out perfect audiobooks every time.
- It adds chapter marks at the track boundaries.
- It’s straightforward.
- It’s free (though donations are requested, and it’s well worth making a small contribution).
There are a few minuses:
- It’s free, so support can be limited.
- You still have to follow my long instructions to get your audiobook tracks imported from CDs in the first place (though you can simplify or omit some of the steps).
- Quirks and UI limitations, due to working as an AppleScript.
- Can’t handle multiple merges of tracks.
This last issue is the one that killed me, while importing the Harry Potter books. The trick is that I wanted to merge all of the disc tracks for a single chapter together, and then merge all of the chapters together to make a single book. But once the chapter tracks were merged, the chapter track would cause the merge of the entire book to fail. It seemed to be an underlying bug in QuickTime, but there was no way around it. Until I found…
The Recommended Solution: Audiobook Builder
I’ve written a complete review of Audiobook Builder, a $10 utility whose sole purpose is to create perfect audiobooks. So again, I’ll keep myself to plusses and minuses. On the plus side:
- Perfect audiobooks, every time.
- It handles the entire process, from importing CDs to adding to iTunes. You can skip all of my silly steps, and work entirely within Audiobook Builder. This is a huge timesaver. Even if you only work at Starbucks, after 3-4 books you’ll have saved enough time to pay for it.
- Handles discs and tracks that are in any format, and adds chapter marks at exactly the places you tell it. Also handles the merge-chapter-tracks-then-book-tracks problem easily.
- It automatically works around a few bugs known to exist in iPod firmware, related to very long tracks like audiobooks.
- My experiences with Splasm Software’s support have been exceptional.
The minuses are very minor:
- The user interface for grouping tracks together prior to the final merge can be confusing initially, and tricky even after you master it. This is only a problem if you’re being anal retentive (like me) about having your chapter marks at actual chapter boundaries in the book.
- There are a few features that I’d like to see added, to make things even easier.
That last “minus” really isn’t fair. Audiobook Builder comes very close to being the ideal tool for making audiobooks, so calling it out for not being perfect is really nitpicking.
Anyway, for more details on these three tools, follow the links. Until I get around to writing an excruciatingly detailed account of how I build my audiobooks, those are my last words on merging audiobook tracks.
Possibly Related
The following postings on this weblog may be related to the post you’re viewing:
January 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I’ve been using Audiobook Builder for nearly a year and have found it very useful. While I only use it on an irregular basis, it has proven its worth in the time it has saved me.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I have read up a lot on joint audio book files. however, I have not see any program that will join m4a (or m4b) files. Is there one out there for pc users?
I already understand that you can do it with a mp3 merger?
January 21st, 2008 at 5:53 pm
@tony: I don’t know of any tools for Windows which can merge AAC (.m4a or .m4b) tracks with a reasonably easy-to-use interface. If I did, I’d add it to this post. Perhaps some other reader will suggest a tool they have used and like.
In the meantime, if you import your audiobook tracks into MP3 files, instead of AAC, you can use MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter, described above.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
If some one came up with an m4a or m4b merger, I think they would make a killing. (i would buy it)
January 27th, 2008 at 7:38 am
I don’t know of a tool that directly merges AAC files, but I’ve used Markable with success. It works well with iTunes. You drag the files from iTunes (or anywhere else) into Markable. It will then convert/rip them to mp3, merge them, convert them to m4b and place them in the audiobooks folder of iTunes.
My primary complaint is that it does NOT retain chapter stops. However, if iPod and iTunes remember where you’ve left off so if it’s just a straight listen through that’s not a big deal.
January 27th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
@Erwin: The last time I tried Markable was 3-4 years ago, so I don’t know what it’s like now (I didn’t like it back then). Do you have a URL for the current release? I really should re-review it at this point. Thanks!
February 24th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
In Windows try BonkEnc. You can rip a CD directly to one mp3, aac (m4a,m4b), … file. After making several files for each CD of an audiobook, you can easily join these files to another “one-audiobook-file”.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
As a new ipod shuffle owner struggling in rough seas while trying to download audiobooks, this site is a life-saver. However, I still have questions. Should I just quite now and buy a nano, or are these instructions going to work for my shuffle. Your instructions for the “ipod” aren’t always specific enough for me, cuz, I’m such an ipod idiot. But, this site is great, and I plan to print and read EVERY word of your advice. Thank you so much!
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
@morgan: I suggest you start with the FAQs, and then Which iPod Should I Buy for my detailed explanations of why the iPod shuffle is not a good device for audiobooks.
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I also have a Shffule, and with audiobook builder, it is the best possible audiobook MP3 player IMO. True, the lack of a screen and a scrool wheeel makes it difficult for you to know what chapter you are on, but what does that matter?
I was at work today (washing dishes to pay for college) and I had my Shffule attached to the outside of my pocket. and I was able to, with one hand, while carrying a load of pans, reach down, pause the shffule, rewind it, control the volume, ect… all intuitively without stopping what i was doing.
and now, with all of the audiobook files joined, I will be able to switch just as effortsly between mu music any my audio book by turning on the shuffle feature when the music hits me, and just hit the play button three times to go to the last bookmark in my audiobook as it will be the first thing in my playlist. with a nano, I would have had to stop what i was doing and take the thing out of my pocket. really, navigating the thing is verry intuitive once you get used to it.
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:05 am
Is there a way to prevent the audiobook files from showing up in the “songs” list on the ipod? Sometimes I enjoy just having all my songs on shuffle, and every now and then the audiobook comes up. They are already checked for “skip when shuffling”, however they still show up.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:19 am
@Zenjamin: I’m sure the iPod Shuffle can be used for audiobooks, and make work well for some people. And I would imagine that having proper chapter marks, etc. from Audiobook Builder makes it easier to use. But I think it’s a rare person or situation where the iPod shuffle is the best solution for audiobooks. For most people the nano is a lot better. Lots of details in Which iPod Should I Buy?
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
@Paul: Sounds like you need to check out the FAQs, though if you’ve set the “skip when shuffling” setting for a track, it really shouldn’t be included. Are you sure you’ve changed that setting for all your audiobook tracks?
April 7th, 2008 at 7:41 am
I’ve heard hints that there is a limit to the length of a single audio book track in itunes. Or maybe that it causes some issues. Is there truly a limit or issue? I would like to just like to have my audio book in one huge track/file. Will my 40 hour audio book track cause an issue?
April 7th, 2008 at 10:51 am
@Dan: Yes, there are limits. I believe the fundamental limits are due to underlying limits in the QuickTime format, having to do with a maximum number of samples in one file. This means that, at the lower sample rate that I recommend in my Optimal iTunes Import Settings for Audiobooks article, an audiobook track can be longer than if you imported it at the default, much higher sample rate.
However, there are also defects in software/firmware on the iPod, which limit track lengths to quite a bit less than the theoretical maximum. The longest tracks in my collection are just under 17 hours long.
But I wouldn’t even go that far these days. Audiobook Builder limits you to 12 hour tracks, and will automatically split up a longer book into tracks no longer than that. The developers of Audiobook Builder have done a lot more technical research than I have on the practical limits in length, and so I trust that’s the right maximum length. So your 40 hour book should be split across four tracks.
And really, that’s a good idea anyway. That way as you finish a part of the book, you can remove that section from your iPod, saving space for other books. If it was one huge track, you wouldn’t be able reclaim the space until the very last word.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:21 am
This is an interesting idea for conversion but I found when trying to use the first recommended tool (“If you follow the instructions I offer for importing audiobooks on audio or MP3 CDs into iTunes”), that in fact it was not useful because the files on the audio CD are .cda files so nothing could be done.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
@Derek: When I look up the .cda file extension, it’s listed as a shortcut file, without any audio content. So I am guessing that you’re not looking at a commercial CD, but something that someone burned for you? You’ll have to return to them, and get them to put the real audio files on the disc before you’ll be able to import them into iTunes. The .cda files themselves won’t be usable with any tool.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
It was great finding your blog on audiobooks & iTunes; Good to know I wasn’t the only one who ran up against the problems involved in importing an audiobook.
I found a particularly useful tool that solves just about any problem you would run across: iTunesJoin, which can be found at: http://www.3am.pair.com
$10 shareware, and worth every penny, in my opinion. It runs as a script, directly through iTunes, and has numerous options for joining AAC files. I think the neatest feature is that during the merging, iTunesJoin will take each track title, and use that as a chapter title in the merged track.
The only drawback that I’ve found using iTunesJoin is that the merging process is extremely slow. It definitely not your typical five minute project.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I’ve been struggling with this too. I have a load of single .aac chapters already in my itunes library and I want to join them. Both items of software which have been mentioned above (audiobook maker and iTunesJoin) will only run on a Mac – and I use a PC.
Through another blog I found a piece of joining software called YAMB, which is a free. YAMB accepts .aac files, joins them and converts them into mp4 format. The problem was that when I did a test run and played the mp4 file, it sounded like all the tracks were layered on top of each other and played all at once.
- back to the drawing board!
July 19th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Update, I think I have it.
I found a free tool here: http://www.maniactools.com/soft/m4a-to-mp3-converter/?ref=inst&version=5.9&b=5901
that converts M4a files to MP3 and merges them at the same time.
The tool also allows you to drop the bitrate (so you can make smaller files) – I find that a bitrate of about 40 or so is fine for audiobooks.
so the process is:
use the tool to merge all your m4a files into a smaller mp3 file.
re-import the new merged file into itunes as an m4a file
rename it as an m4b file.
Not ideal and a little
July 19th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Arrgh, sorry it doesn’t merge the tracks. So you need to use a freeware mp3 merge tool to join the tracks, which is yet another step in the process (sigh).
So the best I can do is:
use the tool to merge all your m4a files into a smaller mp3 files.
use a freeware mp3 merge tool to merge all the mp3 files
re-import the new merged mp3 file into itunes as an m4a file
rename it as an m4b file.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:04 pm
@Ravi: I think you’re making the process a lot more complicated than it needs to be. You can simplify it to just:
1. Use iTunes to convert your AAC tracks to MP3 tracks.
2. Use the tool I suggested above, MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter, to merge the new MP3 tracks and create an audiobook.
Did you try doing that, before coming up with what appears to me to be a much more complicated process?