How to get AAX Audiobook files into Audible Manager

How to get AAX files into Audible Manager – 20180121

My System; Lenovo ThinkPad E440 running Windows 7 64-bit

running Audible Manager 5.5.0.8

My MP3 player – Sansa Fuze

THE PROBLEM

I can download .AAX files from my Audible account to my windows PC, but cannot get them into the Audible Manager.

For several years, I have had to manually import audiobook files into the Audible Manager after downloading them from Audible. The usual process was to download the new Audiobook to the default location,

C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Audible\Downloads

I would then start up the Audible Manager's army green box.

Clicking [File] and selecting [Add Audio Files] in the upper right corner would take me directly to the default file location, where all of the previous downloads reside.

I would then left click on the file, and click the [Import] tab at the bottom of the page to import my new AAX Audio file into Audible Manager.

Once it was there, I could listen to it on the laptop, or download it to my Sansa Fuze media player.

I started having real trouble with this process when Audible Inc changed its file format from AA (Audible Audiobook format) to AAX (Audible Enhanced Audiobook format).

I could still download AAX files from Audible (of course, they would not automatically load into Audible Manager), but when I tried to manually load them, the [Import] tab at the bottom was greyed out.

I noticed that some of my old audiobooks with the .AA extension could still be imported with the [Import] button. This means that

THE NEW AUDIBLE .AAX FORMAT IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH AUDIBLE MANAGER.

Sorry to shout. I am still pretty mad about this! What to do?

THE WORKAROUND SOLUTION

Fortunately, after a lot of cursing, fiddling and kludging, I was able to figure out a workaround. If you are having the same problems, hurry up and port over your Audiobook files before Audible makes another file format that is even MORE incompatible with its own software! :-)

1. Download your Audiobook from Audible to your PC

Also, be sure you know which subdirectory it was stored in. If you did not change the default directory when you set up your Audible account, it's probably the one listed above.

2. Using your file manager, go to the subdirectory where your new .AAX Audiobook resides.

Be sure that Audible Manager is turned OFF at this point.

3. Right click on the file you want to import into Audible Manager.

A box will open up that includes the option, “Open with...”

4. Click on “Open With....”

One of the selections you see will be “AudibleManager Application Executable”

5. Click on “AudibleManager Application Executable”

Audible Manager will open, and you will get an error message that says something like,

“The file

C:\impossibly\long\string\of \subdirectories\Audible\Downloads\YourBookCrazyFilename.AAX cannot be found in your Personal Library.....Would you like to import it now?

[YES] [NO]

6. OMG and Woo Hoo, click [YES] !!!!

The Audiobook will magically appear in the Audible Manager Playlist, and start playing!

For some reason, it appears twice though. I usually just delete the second instance. This seems to have no harmful effects.

7. If you have a second book to load, stop playing file, Close Audible Manager and repeat.

**If you have Audible Manager open at the start of this process, it will not work.**

OTHER SOLUTIONS

1. If you have Windows 10, try the Win 10 Audible App from the Windows store

It's a free app. Unfortunately Microsoft will detect that you are using Win 7, and will not let you download it and attempt to run it in Win 7 compatibility mode.

2. If you have a fancy cellphone, download the Apple App or Android App and get used to playing audiobooks from your cellphone.

Of course, this will also run down your cellphone battery. And if you mistakenly stream the audiobook (instead of downloading it to your cellphone memory from Wi Fi at home) you will run through your data plan pretty quickly. Audible makes it easy to burn your data plan by conveniently listing all the audiobooks in your online account along with the ones you carefully downloaded before the trip. Did that sound snippy? Sorry, I am still really pretty mad that Audible was no help at all in finding this workaround, and that there was no real upgrade to their software since 2010. AND I'm mad at Microsoft for not supporting Win 7 anymore. Oh well, just plain angry I suppose.

3. Convert all your .AAX files to .MP3 or .OGG format.

Let's face it peeps-- The proprietary file management schemes are getting to be a real pain in the a** for people that are trying to do the right thing and pay for media content. IMHO, Audible is a great way to get Audiobooks. I think the monthly fee is reasonable for what you get. But I am increasingly made to feel like a criminal when I am doing nothing wrong. There is also, IMHO, increasingly a feeling that I will not be able to listen to Audiobooks I have rightfully purchased if, at the whim of some corporate manager, they decide in the future that I have really just been renting these books all along.

There are a number of software packages, some free, that will let you convert your AAX files to MP3 files. Then you can do whatever you like with them. Before you try it, be aware of whether such file fiddling may or may not violate the laws where you live, and whether it violates your user agreement with Audible.

4. Support your local library and local bookseller

We should all be doing this anyway! Check out a book at your local library, and read it! You can pick up a book that was printed 150 years ago and read it in a Park, during a power failure. On the other hand, if you want to read a file on a 5.25-inch floppy disk that is 20 years old, you may have great difficulty. There's a lot to be said for Low Tech....

A lot of libraries also offer audiobooks that can be downloaded for a couple of weeks, or checked out in a media player that has the audiobook preloaded. Purchasing audiobooks is not your only option these days.

Also www.indiebound.org is a group of independent community book sellers that also offers audiobooks.