Audiobooks discussion
Archives
>
Where do you get your audio content and what device do you use to listen?
Not sure how it works in the UK. Here in the States you have to log in through your library system. I am supervised you did not have to log in??
How do they encrypt MP3 files? Or are they mostly WMA? I noticed that NetLibrary had switched from "always available" to having hold queues on books, like Overdrive. For NetLibrary books, I used to download them as one long file, add the correct cover art via Windows Media Player, and drop the MP3 ones directly (not transfer). As we've discussed before, NetLibrary's manager to transfer books in Overdrive-like parts was a massive FAIL - sounds like Ebsco is more of the same there.Julie:
Why would you get a bill for a library book?
Thanks for your speedy response, as I said I have managed to download already. Is it free?
The audio books I have downloaded will they disappear!!!!!!!!!! or can they be kept?
UK libraries charge for requesting and borrowing Audio Books and recently I found out that even if you are blind or partially sighted they will still charge!!
John wrote: "How do they encrypt MP3 files? Or are they mostly WMA? I noticed that NetLibrary had switched from "always available" to having hold queues on books, like Overdrive. For NetLibrary books, I used to..."Sorry John I am not sure about their mp3 books - I think I have only got WMA books so I misspoke I guess. I think this is worse than Netlibrary IMO. I am not a fan.
So, you did get the Ebsco's via your library card? In the States, audio and ebooks are "free" just like print books (although my library now charges a fee for items via Inter-Library Loan).Books for the visually impaired are handled differently here. I believe those patrons register locally with their state office for the blind, obtaining access to a nationwide collection of recorded books for them only (these are not commercially available recordings).
Heidi:
To be honest, I had run through most of the NetLibrary books that interested me over the years.
I logged in via the library then had to register on the EBSChost website.I think it's great just worried that it's too good to be true.
Do the downloaded audio books 'disappear' for want of a better word.
How?? Do they self destruct LOLMine download onto Media Player. I've saved one onto my portable hard drive and it's still there.
They stay on my sony phone Julie but on my sansa the sansa says something like rights expired or something. I wonder if I get the ipod touch if it will be easier to use.
I hadn't realized Sansa Clips were ... sophisticated enough to recognize expirations?
One wouldn't play on my clip but does on my old Hitachi DMP850N
John wrote: "I hadn't realized Sansa Clips were ... sophisticated enough to recognize expirations?"My Overdrive audiobooks don't expire on my Sansa but for some reason those do. Weird.
I have run into a problem transferring WMA books via the Overdrive manager lately, where the transfer stops partway through giving an error message something like "allocation exceeded" (paraphrased). The rest of the book transfers fine via Windows Media Player, even though the "media properties" indicate the "allocation' issue as well.
John wrote: "I have run into a problem transferring WMA books via the Overdrive manager lately, where the transfer stops partway through giving an error message something like "allocation exceeded" (paraphrased..."I have had some issues with Overdrive stopping the download of audiobooks mid way through and stopping the transfer, but it normally works the second time I try. I usually have good luck with Media Player as well.
The D2 shows cover art, and I'm a perfectionist who hates proportionately correct covers that only cover part of the square picture area. So, I use Paint to edit the jpeg to 175 x 175 pixels, and adding that via WMP as the new cover art. For Sansas, changing the tag to "audiobook" has to be done to the actual underlying My Media files; doing so at WMP alone won't be enough to trigger the bookmarking function on the player (the Clip will see those as "music" files, not books).
OOOOOOOOOhhhh that went straight over my head. Don't do jargon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heidi wrote: "I love my sansa clip but was thinking of getting a ipod touch because I am too cheap to get a smart phone and date plan and it seems like a good alternative since it has wifi. Anyone have any op..."
I have my boyfriend's old iPod Touch (2nd Gen) and a Sansa Clip +. I honestly use the clip way more. I don't use the iPod touch for my audiobooks but it is fun to have for music, apps and games. I use it for many other things but I would say the clip + has paid for itself many times over (in savings) in under a year. I was thinking I should count all the audiobooks I have listened to on it since I got it. Just in Harry Potter alone it has paid for itself at least 4 or 5 times. They are expensive!
John wrote: "Do Overdrive WMA's expire on such devices though?"Yes I think they do. I have tried the Overdrive on my touch before and it expired but it was no big deal because the narrator was so annoying! I never would have finished it anyway.
Julie C wrote: "OOOOOOOOOhhhh that went straight over my head. Don't do jargon!!!!!!!!!!!!!"What jargon?
I broke down and bought a 16 Gb microSD card for my Clip+ for books.
I can put books on my clip successfully but couldn't put what I did down in tech speak.I have 2 clips with extra micro cards in them. I love them to bits. Have a spare because I would hate to be without. I'm such an addict!!!!
The most books I've had on them is 27 at once.
Including unused Audible credits as "books", at last count I think I had 55 to-be-listened.
I have listened to 4-8 audiobooks a month for years now, first on cassettes way back in the dark ages, then on CDs, then on a Sansa Clip, then a 2nd-generation Ipod Touch, then an iPhone 3GS, and now on an iPhone 4S with 64 lovely gigs of storage space. I love having audiobooks, music, podcasts, movies, email, calendar, internet access and my many useful and fun apps all on one device. For those who don't want to get an iPhone, I highly recommend the iPod Touch for its ability to store so many different kinds of media. I get most of my audiobooks from Audible, or via Overdrive from the library. Occasionally I get something from Librivox or Jagamaga. Overdrive WMA and MP3 files have worked just fine on all my iDevices. If you have an iPhone, iTouch, or iPad, the main difference between Overdrive WMA and MP3 is the method for getting them onto your device. (I'll just say "device" to mean any of the 3 Apple handhelds listed above.) With Overdrive MP3 files, once you download the free Overdrive app to your device, MP3s can be downloaded wirelessly directly to the device without having to hook up to a computer.
Getting WMA files requires a computer and is a little more time-consuming than getting MP3s, but it works just fine if you follow the step-by-step instructions provided by most libraries' Overdrive website: First, you download the free Overdrive application to your computer, then you download the audiobook(s) to your computer, then Overdrive tells iTunes to put the audiobook(s) on your device the next time you connect your device and your computer. The first time takes a long time because you have to get Overdrive set up on your computer and properly integrated with iTunes, but after that the process is simple.
All Overdrive audiobooks expire after 3 weeks (at least from my library), so I never get more than 1 or 2 at a time, to make sure I can listen to them before they expire. Sorry about the super-long post! Hope this is helpful to someone.
Moderator Hat On:Thanks for the info, Christine, it looks quite helpful! A couple of years back, I got a device that handled Audiobooks exactly as I'd wanted that also had video playback, which I never thought I'd use. I watch videos when traveling now; earlier this year my flight was delayed for a thunderstorm, so I just picked one of the vids, and waited it out -- no stress at all.
Yes, thanks Christine...I have managed to download Overdrive to my Blackberry and to find and choose my public library but when I try to go to it, all I get is a blank screen. Anybody familiar with Blackberry who might know what I'm doing wrong? If not, I guess it's a trip to the Verizon store.
Christine E. wrote: "I have listened to 4-8 audiobooks a month for years now, first on cassettes way back in the dark ages, then on CDs, then on a Sansa Clip, then a 2nd-generation Ipod Touch, then an iPhone 3GS, and n..."Thanks for all the info Christine. I'm going to refer to it when I download the library's audios.
Christine E. wrote: "I have listened to 4-8 audiobooks a month for years now, first on cassettes way back in the dark ages, then on CDs, then on a Sansa Clip, then a 2nd-generation Ipod Touch, then an iPhone 3GS, and n..."Hi Christine,
I just ordered the iPhone4S and am considering using it for audiobooks. I am worried, though, about battery time. Has that been an issue for you? Do you have any tricks to help with that? Thanks!
My audio books on my iPhone do not disappear -- neither the MP3 nor the WMA. The audio books in both formats disappear from my computer. Since the iOS 5 update to apple devices, overdrive has had issues with WMA transfers. There is a new console to download which supposedly fixes the problems -- however it has some major bugs and is not seamless anymore. Hopefully they will continue to work to improve it.
I took my Blackberry to the Verizon store today and found out that my problem is my phone doesn't have enough memory to use Overdrive. It seems my 1 year old phone is considered ancient by today's standards...lol. Since I'm not eligible to upgrade for another year, I guess I'd better find one of those Sansa Clips. Anybody know a good vendor?
Janet wrote: "I took my Blackberry to the Verizon store today and found out that my problem is my phone doesn't have enough memory to use Overdrive. It seems my 1 year old phone is considered ancient by today's..."I bought mine at Best Buy and also bought a miniature card to hold more audiobooks on it. This way, I don't have to load it again for at least a month. Everything was right there.
Janet wrote: "I took my Blackberry to the Verizon store today and found out that my problem is my phone doesn't have enough memory to use Overdrive. It seems my 1 year old phone is considered ancient by today's..."We bought both of our clips at Amazon. Sometimes Woot has it as a deal of the day though.
I got mine from Tiger Direct (I believe via Amazon).
Thank you for this post! I am now using Overdrive from my library in addition to Audible for my 4-5 book a month habit :-))
Hey do any of you other sansa clip owners have issues with the battery status on your clip? Both mine and my hubby's go from what looks like 3/4th full battery and then all of a sudden it just dies. They never even show it is below 50%.
It could be subjective, but after a year or so, mine seems to have increasing trouble holding a charge. I charged it from about halfway a while ago for a while (via AC not computer), and it still showed as not-quite-full.
John wrote: "It could be subjective, but after a year or so, mine seems to have increasing trouble holding a charge. I charged it from about halfway a while ago for a while (via AC not computer), and it still s..."It stays charged a pretty long time (expecially to my old ipod mini it just seems like the battery meter is off. Oh well, still love it!
I charge my every night so it will last through work. If I don't it dies after a couple of hours.
Carolyn F. wrote: "I charge my every night so it will last through work. If I don't it dies after a couple of hours."I only listen to mine about 30 min a day and it lasts a few weeks.
Both mine have a fantastic battery life 2 to 3 days without charging and using it all day.
I ordered mine...I'll let you guys know how it goes. It seems like my laptop battery life, which is supposed to be 5 hours, runs more like 3 but I do use it for audio and video. The manufacturers are always a little optimistic in my opinion.
Janet wrote: "I took my Blackberry to the Verizon store today and found out that my problem is my phone doesn't have enough memory to use Overdrive. It seems my 1 year old phone is considered ancient by today's..."That does not surprise me at all! The technology on cell phones (smart phones) changes quickly, I work for a wireless company and it is crazy how fast new phones come out - manufacturers are all trying to push out the best...
Christine E. wrote: "I have listened to 4-8 audiobooks a month for years now, first on cassettes way back in the dark ages, then on CDs, then on a Sansa Clip, then a 2nd-generation Ipod Touch, then an iPhone 3GS, and n..."How can you possibly manage to listen to 4 audiobooks in one month? I'm listening to 11/22/63 which is 40 hours long. There's no way I finish it before 12/5 when my next credit become available.
Books like those are an exception, Chris. Many unabridged books are under 10 hours each.
John wrote: "Books like those are an exception, Chris. Many unabridged books are under 10 hours each."Most books I listen to are between 6-13 hours so I finish about 8 or 9 a month.
In the month of October I think I hit a record (for me anyway). I listened to 6 audiobooks. I also read or finished reading 2 ebooks. That is a good month for me! I read mostly young adult books which tend to be shorter. Most run 250 - 350 pages with a few being higher 400+. Most of them run between 7 - 12 hours with most under 10 as John said. The Harry Potter books are long (20+ hours) and my 6 last month included one of them. I listen quite a bit though so maybe that is way they go so fast.
That is one major downside to audiobooks - speed. I'm a pretty fast reader but when listening to an audiobook, I am limited to the speed of the narrator.
Yes, but everyone would sound like chipmunks if you speed them up.
Once upon a time, I set the playback at 150% for a book that I thought was just too slowly read. However ... I tried to watch a movie, and couldn't understand why the playback was so badly messed up, until I realized that having done that affected films, too, not just "music" files.
Audiobooks
Books mentioned in this topic
11/22/63 (other topics)The Notebook / The Wedding (other topics)
The Passage (other topics)
Faceless Killers (other topics)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (other topics)
Hi Julie in UK here.
I am interested in the Ebsco part of this comment. I recently came across EBSCOhost but cannot find anything about how it works. I have downloaded a couple of Audio books and they work fine. Will I get a bill and if so how???
What is the principal behind it all? Please would someone enlighten me.