Audio Books - Tips; Tricks; Suggestions?

[Stu 593]

I am very happy with my TT910. I have loaded most of my albums into the TT and am enjoying listening to them through my car stereo system. I travel a lot and my TT has become an invaluable companion for finding my way in large cities that I visit on business as well as an entertainment centre for me during the long trips by car.

I don't seem however to be able to get any of the audiobooks to play in my TT. My books are in MP3 format and when I load the books into my TT under the audio book folder, TT does not see them on the screen. When I checked the books that came with my TT (these are only sample books) in the audio book folder, I discovered that they are in the AA format. After spending several hours browsing this forum and googling for suggestions on the proper format in which to put my audiobooks in, I still have not managed to get mysefl setup so that I can access my books through the TT music-photos-audiobook menu. I have tried to convert the MP3 books into AA format, but the software I downloaded to try this does not work (there are several I tried: BonkEnc, Audacity etc.).

Any suggestions? Just in case anyone is wondering, the books have all been purchased as either audio CDs (that I converted to MP3) or MP3 books I purchased online. Thanks in advance!

 

[joeneal]

Try Copying them to the Mp3 folder

 

[Stu 593]

Try Copying them to the Mp3 folder

Thanks for your suggestion, however, I already did it prior to my original post and discovered that you have to then hunt under individual songs to find the actual MP3 book. I had thought of creating a book folder by creating an "Audiobook" artist, and that would probably work. I became discouraged however when I realized that with over 700 songs on my TT, finding the Audibook that I actually want to play in MP3 format is long and complicated. I could also probably setup a playlist but am not sure if I would be able to pick the book I wanted any quicker.

What I really want is to be able to use the simple menu available in TT to access the books from the "Jukebox\audiobooks" menu. This way, all audiobooks are in one place - if I were to purchase books from Audible for example, they would not be in the same directory as the MP3 files. For whatever reason, the MP3 audiobook files dont show up in the audiobook directory.

Would anyone have any other suggestions? Maybe I will have to create the "artist/album" workaround I suggested earlier? Surely there is a way to convert an MP3 audiobook to the AA format needed for TT to play the book from the audiobook library?

 

[The Spook]

The audio book feature on your TT is designed to work only with Audible files. If you purchase a book from Audible (which come in the proprietary .aa format) it will work.

You simply cannot use the audiobook feature to play mp3's.

You cannot, AFAIK, convert your mp3's to the .aa format, because it is a proprietary format controlled by Audible. Your only options are:

1) Buy books from Audible, or
2) Play your current files in the mp3 feature of your TT.

 

[joeneal]

Make a new Folder with-in Your Mp3 Folder for each audio book and Name them. Then for each of your Mp3 audio books copy to the respective folder. This will separate them from all of your Mp3 music.
Now when you press the Playlist icon you will have folder for Mp3
Music and Folders for each of your audio Mp3 books.

 

[Stu 593]

Make a new Folder with-in Your Mp3 Folder for each audio book and Name them. Then for each of your Mp3 audio books copy to the respective folder. This will separate them from all of your Mp3 music.
Now when you press the Playlist icon you will have folder for Mp3
Music and Folders for each of your audio Mp3 books.

Thanks to all those who replied. It really is unfortunate that only Audible books will play on the TT and I certainly was not aware of this when I bought my TT910. I will use the work around suggested for the MP3 books. Thanks again!

 

[markpalmer]

Thanks for your suggestion, however, I already did it prior to my original post and discovered that you have to then hunt under individual songs to find the actual MP3 book. I had thought of creating a book folder by creating an "Audiobook" artist, and that would probably work. I became discouraged however when I realized that with over 700 songs on my TT, finding the Audibook that I actually want to play in MP3 format is long and complicated. I could also probably setup a playlist but am not sure if I would be able to pick the book I wanted any quicker.

What I really want is to be able to use the simple menu available in TT to access the books from the "Jukebox\audiobooks" menu. This way, all audiobooks are in one place - if I were to purchase books from Audible for example, they would not be in the same directory as the MP3 files. For whatever reason, the MP3 audiobook files dont show up in the audiobook directory.

Would anyone have any other suggestions? Maybe I will have to create the "artist/album" workaround I suggested earlier? Surely there is a way to convert an MP3 audiobook to the AA format needed for TT to play the book from the audiobook library?

Since you can't place your own audio books in the TomTom Audio book folder, it's best to RIP them to MP3 and place them in the MP3 folder for Tomtom juke box. (AA files are propietary)

What works for me is to create seperate folders for each audio book in the MP3 folder. Give them a name that will help you to remember what book it is. Then it's simple to find, and easy to play back.

-mark

 

[TTDan720]

On the audio book topic...

I just downloaded a program that 'said' it converts text to mp3. Yes it did, BUT,,,, when I play through my 720, it's in a really bad voice. The sample voice that is attached to the software I downloaded. So here is my question: When you guys are listening to your books, what voice is it in? Is it in the voice attached to that book? Or are you/we able to choose one of the TomTom voices?
Thanks!