Understanding the Basics of Audio Formatting: An In-Depth Guide

What is an Audible Format?

Posted by Amy Lopez on 5/16/2024 2:51:08 PM.

Audible is an Amazon company, home of the world’s largest selection of audiobooks, audio shows, and original series. Audible’s content includes more than 200,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers and business information providers. And now Amazon Prime and Audible members also have access to Audible Channels, offering unlimited listening to original series and handcrafted playlists for every interest.

1. What are the Formats of Audible Files

Update: Audible now exclusively provides AAX and AAXC formats for user downloads. And with a growing number of audiobooks lacking a download option, it’s increasingly crucial to back up your Audible library .

Audible Audiobooks are distributed by Audible with the file extensions .aa and .aax. They contain data encoded with either the MP3 or ACELP codes, but include a Digital Rights Management system requiring an Audible username and password of playback of the files. AAX format is Enhanced Format , While AA contains Format 2, Format 3 and Format 4. Below picture is the difference between AA and AAX format.

However, in order to provide you with the absolute best audio quality on the market, Audible.com has made all of our audiobooks available in both Format 4 and Enhanced Format. Choosing which format to download your audiobooks in comes down to how you plan to listen to them. Audiobooks in Enhanced format aren’t compressed so they may take up a lot of space on your computer or phone. Audiobooks in Format 4 are compressed (much smaller), which is great if you want to download the audiobook and put it on your MP3 player.

And the default download format of an Audible file is an enhanced format(AAX). If you want to change your default download format:

1. Go to your library page on the Audible site.

2. Click the drop-down menu at the top next to Audio Quality.

3. Switch to whichever format you think will work for you.

By the way, on June 20, 2019, Audible released a new Audible App for Android/iOS. The biggest change coming to this version is that all Audible books downloaded through the Audible app will be saved in AAXC format instead of AAX/AA format. Don’t panic, the workaround for AAXC files is to download Audible books from Audible website or Audible App for Windows instead in order to convert Audible to MP3.

2. How to Listen to Audible Files

The best way to listen wherever you go is to download the Audible app . And the Audible app is free and available on iOS, Android, and Fire tablets. Be sure to keep it up-to-date to get the latest features.

The easiest way tp to play Audible books is by streaming Audible on the web through your Windows or Mac computer.

3. How to Remove DRM from Audible Audiobooks

Many of you may want to play Audible Audiobooks on more players or share this book with family members. However, you are not allowed to do it due to the Digital Rights Managements (DRM protection). So next we are going to show you how to remove DRM from Audible audiobooks and convert formats with Epubor Audible Converter.

Epubor Audible Converter is the best Audible Audiobook DRM Removal as well as Format Converter. Just Add the Audible files to Audible Converter, just choose the output format, then click Convert button. All the books will be converted successfully.

Step 1download Epubor Audible Converter to your computer and launch it.

Download Epubor Audible Converter for Free

Step 2Log in to Your Audible Account.

Launch Epubor Audible Converter, it can seamlessly load your Audible library upon login your Audible account within the software. Click the “Log in” button to enter your Audible account credentials.

Epubor software solely accesses the Audible website’s registration service, guaranteeing no collection of your private information.

Step 3Remove DRM and Convert Audible Audiobooks to MP3/M4B.

Choose the titles you wish to convert, then drag and drop them into the main interface. Click on “Convert” button to transform your Audible books into DRM-free MP3s or M4Bs effortlessly.

If you want to get the converted MP3 files saved in separated chapters, after adding Audible books to the software, you need to click the Edit button and choose Split by Chapters function, then click the Convert button.

After logging in, if your Audible library doesn’t appear, simply click the “Refresh” button to load it into the interface.

Then you will get the converted MP3 files in separated chapters after the successful conversion.

Conclusion

Many people adore audiobooks because of the amazing benefits of audiobooks, like, it can help you read faster, engage with a book better and listen while you do other things, etc. And playing DRM free Audible audiobooks anytime and anywhere you want can greatly boost your listening experience.

Download Epubor Audible Converter for free:

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4 Comments

toni rv

Re:What is an Audible Format?

06/16/2019 23:25:17

the converter works great BUT when the book is broken down by chapters and loaded onto my KLANGTOP CLIP or AGPTEK CLIP mp3 players, the CHAPTERS LOAD OUT OF ORDER. so i have to stop running or driving and manually shuffle through the jumbled chapters to select the next one. i tried manually loading the chapters onto the players, one by one, in order, yet they ended up jumbled. i tried renaming the chapters before loading—same result. when i talked with a support tech from the company, she told me that the program did what it was supposed to do—convert files—not present the converted files in order. BUYER BEWARE :)

Epubor Iris

Re:toni rv

06/17/2019 09:05:50

Thank you for using Epubor software. And thank you for reporting this issue. We will try to improve this part in next version. Please don’t worry. Customers’ suggestions are always welcome.

Ric

Re:What is an Audible Format?

06/18/2020 21:19:29

Hello, I just received a message from Audible saying that format 4 downloading will no longer be supported (for Windows) and that they are moving to an enhanced high-quality format. However, there are two Audible enhanced formats: AAX (already available for downloading in Windows) and AAXC (currently, only available for Android). Do you know if they are moving to AAXC also for Windows? In that case, could Epubor still be used?

Epubor

Re:Ric

06/19/2020 08:30:37

Thank you for asking.
The enhanced format to be released on 30 June 2020 can be AAX format, AAXC format or another new format. AAX and AA format can still be converted to MP3 with Epubor Audible Converter:
https://www.epubor.com/audible-converter.html

However, if Audible end up only supporting AAXC format, there will be no tool that can deal with AAXC format. We will try our best to study on this project, but here now we cannot promise you when we will support the AAXC format.

Therefore, before Audible finally make the switch, it’s highly recommended backing up your Audible books immediately. If you don’t know how to effectively back up Audible, here is a detailed introduction you can refer to:
https://www.epubor.com/how-to-back-up-audible-books.html

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Understanding the Basics of Audio Formatting: An In-Depth Guide