Books on tape or CD

[Moonshine]

Has anyone ever loaded recorded books on tape or Cd to their Mp3 or ipod??? & if so did it work???

[CWF]

Yes and works well. Since some books are long (i.e. hours and hours) you can rip the book to mp3 using a low bit rate say 64kps rather than 128 or 160 for music to save space. Sounds fine for voice.

[meese]

Yep, works great, especially for long trips. In fact, my only problem seems to be that some books are long enough that you just want to keep riding until the book is done.

I went to the local library and scanned through their books on CD collection. I found several worthwhile sets, plus a few things I wouldn't otherwise have thought about getting. After I've finished, I just delete them from the iPod and computer.

Curtis is right though. The longer books (I always try to get the unabridged versions) can take up a lot of space.

You can also got books online at Audible.com and other sites, as well as through the iTunes music store, and your local bookstore.

[Moonshine]

Do you use an mp3 player or an ipod???

[CWF]

Do you use an mp3 player or an ipod???

I had an Archos Gmini220 (20GB) mp3 player for the last couple of years and my daughter finally conned me out of it last month. I'm now looking to replace it with a 60GB Ipod Video. I'm going with the Ipod this time simply because I use a video capture card to tape Letterman every night and want to watch those when I travel by plane.

The only thing I don't like about the Ipod is that because of its feud with Microsoft it doesn't support wma files without conversion. Oh well there no such thing as the perfect, do everything I want, mp3 player.

[meese]

Do you use an mp3 player or an ipod???
I use an iPod for everything. Normally it lives on the bike, and works through the handlebar controls and intercom. When traveling for work, I'll ride the bike to LAX, park it for free, then remove the iPod and take it on the plane. On my return, I replace the iPod and head home. It's worked great for more than three years.

I know Archos and other players have gotten much better, but I still don't see another player out there that beats what the iPod does. I may have to upgrade to a video iPod though, as it would be good for those boring hotel stays and long plane rides.

[RVB1019]

The biggest problem with loading it on the Ipod is if you like to leave your ipod on "shuffle mode". You will get into a great set of songs a little Police, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and then smack into chapter 22 from some love story. Once I listen to the book, To avoid this, I try to delete it right away.

I know there is a program the Ipod not to do this but I'm too lazy to figure it out :-)

[meese]

I've had that happen, too. I have a friend who does comedy CDs, and it's weird to be listening to Rush, then suddenly have Guillaume speaking to me.

You can get past that by using music-only playlists, or selecting a specific genre or artist to shuffle within. I wish there was a way to play all genres except for Books & Spoken, but I haven't found it yet.

<edit>

Hey, I just figured it out! Under the File menu in iTunes, create a New Smart Playlist. Set the rule as Genre is not Books & Spoken. I also set the Live updating checkbox so that it will always remain up to date, then named the playlist Music Only. It works.

Since I have a subset of my music on the iPod, it doesn't automatically update my entire library. I guess I'd have to plug in the iPod, select it in iTunes, then repeat the above process based on the music already loaded onto the iPod. That should work, too. Then leave the iPod on shuffle, select the playlist, and go.

[waycoa]

i've been using an iriver with excellent results. Especially to record voice,music rehearsals and practice sessions. Also to listen to jazz i've converted to mp3 from my CD archives. i think the newest one is bigger than 5 gig but haven't had to use all 5 gig yet.

[meese]

Cool, this does work directly on the iPod.

Plug in the iPod, select it in iTunes, then under the File menu select New Smart Playlist. Set the rule as Genre is not Books & Spoken. Set the Live updating checkbox so that it will always remain up to date, then named the playlist .Music Only. Note that the initial period is there so this playlist stays at the top.

Now eject your iPod. Select Music, then Playlists, then .Music Only, then press play. Note that all of these options should be at the top of each list, so you're just hitting the center button until it says .Music Only, then hit play.

If you have set it to shuffle by song or album, then this will work as designed. If not, it will start at the top and play all songs through.

Excellent.

[meese]

Minor update: you may also want to set a second rule in the .Music Only playlist to say Genre is not Podcast. Select the .Music Only playlist, then under File select Get Info, then to the right of the existing rule, click on the + sign, then set the new rule and save by clicking OK.