Want to listen to Audible audiobooks on an MP3 player or some other application? Here’s a simple way to rip and convert Audible audiobook to MP3 in Windows.
Audible is one of the best things that happened to me. No matter what I’m doing, I can listen to my favorite book. This is especially helpful while traveling, working, or doing regular chores. As good as it is, the Audible app, no matter the platform, is not that good. It lacks several of the basic features like proper headset controls, equalizer, casting options, etc. That is one of the reasons why I prefer using third-party audiobook player like Smart Audiobook Player for Android.
The thing is, Audible doesn’t allow third-party players. In fact, the audiobook files are encrypted and download in a special format called “AAX”. So, if you want to use a third-party audiobook reader, you first need to convert the Audible audiobooks to MP3 format. Once you’ve done that, you can play the converted audiobooks on any device and using any music or MP3 application.
That’s where this tutorial comes into play. Let me show how you can rip and convert Audible audiobooks to MP3.
Convert Audible Audiobook to MP3
There are two major steps to convert Audible audiobooks to MP3. First, you need to download the Audible audiobook. Second, rip and convert it to MP3. Though sounds complicated, it is pretty easy to do. All it takes is a couple of clicks. Just follow the steps as is and you will be.
Since the Audible provides no first-party application for our purpose, we are going to use a free and open-source application called OpenAudible. It is a very simple application that lets you download, listen, and convert Audible audiobooks.
1. First, head over to OpenAudible GitHub page and download the latest version for Windows (file with .exe extension). After downloading, install it like any other Windows application.
2. After installing, open the installed application. Before you can download and convert audiobooks, you need to connect your Audible account. To do that, click on the “Controls → Connect to Audible” option.
In case you are wondering, this is important because Audible books are DRM protected. i.e, encrypted. Without your account information, the application cannot decrypt and convert the file.
3. The above action will open a browser window. Here, enter your Audible account details and click the “Sign in” button.
4. After signing in, go to your audiobooks catalog page. Generally, you should be automatically taken to this page. Once you are here, simply close the browser window.
5. In the main OpenAudible window, you will see all your audiobooks listed at the bottom of the window.
6. Select the book you want to download and convert, right-click on it and select “Download”.
7. As soon as you select the option, the download should start. Depending on the size of the audiobook and your internet connection speed, it can take some time to complete.
8. Once OpenAudible completes the download process, it will automatically convert the downloaded file to MP3. You can see the progress next to “State”.
If it didn’t automatically start converting, simply right-click on the downloaded file at the bottom panel and select the “Convert to MP3” option.
9. After converting Audible audiobook to MP3, the state will change to “MP3 on disk”.
10. To find the file, right-click on the audiobook and select the “Show MP3” option.
11. The above action will open the download location in the File Explorer.
That’s it.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, it is pretty simple to convert Audible audiobooks to MP3. You can now use almost any third-party audiobook reader or even a regular MP3 player to listen to your favorite audiobook.
If you like your MP3 files split into chapters, OpenAudible can do that too. Select “File → Split by chapter”, select the MP3 file and you are done. OpenAudible has several such features that make your life easier. Just play with the application and you will discover some interesting and useful options.
Hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
Hello,
I have installed the Openaudible app on a windows pc equipped with windows 10, I am receiving a error message stating “Error running rcrack check counsel”. After searching around a few other users have indicated with the same error message that its is a firewall, antivirus protection issue. I added a exclusion/exception in the Windows Defender program and the error persists.
Please advise
User1
Perhaps Audible is trying to outfox you. Installed the app, connected to Audible, but the app doesn’t seem to want to connect and display my titles. I tried to find the audible .aax file that I wanted to convert, but it turns out it is a .aaxc file, and the app doesn’t recognize it. So, being clever (and humble!) I changed the extension to .aax, and tried again. OpenAudible loads the file! I then try to convert the file to mp3, but it fails. The error is below.
Here’s the error record (from the log):
2020-03-29T16:34:50
1585496090020
48
org.openaudible.desktop.swt.manager.AudibleGUI
WARNING
org.openaudible.desktop.swt.manager.AudibleGUI
getTaskString
1
error converting Pimsleur German Level 1 Lessons : Conversion got non-zero response:69
Sorry but your textbox submission removed the xml tags! I can send you the log file record via email if you want.
Hi Mike, looks like Audible is slowly shifting to new format (aaxc). As of now, OpenAudible doesn’t support this format. However, you can still download your audiobook in .aax format directly from the Audible website. Just go to your Library in Audible and click on the Download button next to the audiobook. After downloading, use OpenAudible to convert it.
Great review and instructions for OpenAudible!
Audible does change things from time to time, but the current version of OpenAudible should work with your entire library–but you do need to be able to view your library using the built-in browser. AAXC can’t be converted, but most titles are available as AAX files. The exception are the free books, the unlimited romance series, and certain books that can only be played with their browser. If you bought the book, you should be able to make a backup.
Hi there Brent, thanks for the clarification.
For some reason, your comment is automatically marked as spam. Me being lazy, I haven’t visited the spam filter page in quite a while. So, sorry for the delay in un-spamming your awesome comment.
Have a nice day.
Hello to all!
I have installed Open Audible and after the start nothing goes. No GUI, no Open Audible. When i will uninstall Open Audible, i become a message that Open Audible run.
Can someone give me a hand?
Sorry for the bad english!
Tobi
Try reinstalling OpenAudible and opening it after restarting the system.
Nothing. In the Taskmanager is Open Audible a background-service.
Yes, i have do this a many time. Nothing. In the taskmanager is Open Audible a backgroundservice.
That is quite odd. Maybe some application is blocking OpenAudible from coming to the foreground or there might be a bug in the application.
If possible use a third-party uninstaller like Revo Uninstaller to fully uninstall the application without any traces. After doing that, reboot the system and re-install the application and see if it works.
So this worked great, many thanks! One question: how do you disconnect OpenAudible from an Audible account? I have two different Audible accounts, so now I want to use OpenAudible with my second Audible account but can’t figure out how to switch. I don’t see any option to “disconnect”…?
When downloading aax files, are these the “high” or “standard” quality files? When using Android and iOS apps, there is the option to choose between high and standard quality. I’d like to download High quality if possible.
I am having this same problem, it won’t download one of the books from the program, I tried it from the phone app and it only gets the aaxc file. It won’t give me the option to download it directly from audible either. I downloaded the newest version of openaudiable and it didn’t help. I guess the only option is to let it play and use a sound recording app to save it in real time but it will take about 3 hours that way.
This was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks. The open software full version cost $12. Great deal, and glad to be able to support them.
The app now will not convert to mp3 without paying for the premium version. So, it’s payware now.
Furthermore, the PREMIUM version (so many freeware apps ruined by greedy devs) is an eye-watering $19.00, so forget that noise. I’ll find a free converter for the proprietary AAX format files.
Hi Guys, Thank you for a great program. I am not sure what is going wrong. I recently tried to update my Audible library and after a scan I am told it is up to date. But I know this is not correct because I have bought several Audible books since last update in February.
It may or may or may not be relevant but in Library Status it says “converting 3 of 109” and I cannot see if this can be cancelled or even if it is happening at all.
Anyway thanks