Friday May 25, 2012
You can use a dedicated software program such as an audio editor to merge multiple audio files into one audiobook, but why do that when you can just use iTunes instead?
If you've already got iTunes installed on your machine, then adding more space-hogging software to your computer's hard drive might be unnecessary if you just want the basics. Rather than wasting time (and possibly money) on third-party software, you might find that the facility in iTunes to combine multiple MP3 files into one audiobook could be the perfect solution.
Using this often overlooked feature enables you to create customized audiobooks which are similar (but not identical) to the ones that come from the iTunes Store -- normally in the M4b audio format. It's also a non-destructive technique that doesn't make any permanent changes unlike direct methods such as waveform editing.
If you have ripped an audiobook from a CD for example, then the tracks will probably be encoded as individual audio files. Combining these files with iTunes into one audiobook gives you the added advantage of bookmarking which you don't get with standard files. In fact, this is an ideal way of listening to any type of voice recording because you can automatically bookmark the playback position at any time. This handy feature saves you from having to remember where you got to next time you want to listen.
If you've got a selection of audio files in your iTunes library that you'd like to splice together, then we've written a handy tutorial to get you started. For more information on how to do this, read our article on How to Create an Audiobook in iTunes Using Multiple MP3s.
Related Articles:
Add to Technorati Favorites
Friday May 18, 2012
While playing the songs in your Windows Media Player (WMP) library, do some of them sound way louder than others? Almost all digital music libraries can suffer loudness variations between songs -- especially if you have sourced your music from different places like: multiple online download services, audio CDs, analog sources, etc.
These differences can be so large sometimes that you'll have no option but to play around with the volume controls on your computer or portable device; this obviously isn't the ideal way to relax and enjoy your digital music collection. To solve this problem, you can use WMP 12's audio enhancement feature called, Volume Leveling. It's similar to Sound Check in iTunes and is a non-destructive way of ensuring that all your songs play at the same volume.
Volume Leveling in WMP isn't as smart as how iTunes normalizes audio files, but if you've got big variations in your music library that you just can't ignore, then this facility is worth using in order to enhance your listening pleasure when playing custom playlists, etc.
For more information, our Windows Media Player tutorial on Volume Leveling goes into a lot more detail on this useful feature and how to fully use it.
Related Articles:
Add to Technorati Favorites
Tuesday May 15, 2012
Most car stereos and home Hi-Fi systems have modern facilities for playing digital music in some way. You may find that you've got auxiliary inputs such as phono sockets, a stereo mini-jack (3.5mm) line-in, or more cutting edge features like:
- A USB port -- for storage devices that contain your MP3s like flash drives and hard drives.
- A card reader -- for memory cards such as SD and MicroSD.
- Bluetooth.
At the very least, your car stereo will need at least a CD player to be in with a chance to play digital audio -- preferably one that is also
MP3 CD compatible so you can burn your own custom digital music
playlists. However, what if you've only got an old 'tape only' system and need the ability to play your digital music library?
FM transmitters are a good option, but an alternative is to use a cassette adapter. This simple and inexpensive audio accessory fits into your cassette player's mechanism -- just like a real tape! It works by converting the audio signal from your portable (via the 3.5mm headphone jack) into a magnetic signal that the cassette player's heads can read -- the sound is then amplified and relayed to the stereo system's speakers.
If you're still happy with your rusty trusty cassette-based stereo (includes boomboxes of course), you can breathe new life into it by using a cassette adapter. This can be a lot more preferable than the cost of upgrading to a modern stereo if you just want to listen to digital music on a portable -- i.e. iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, PMPs, CD players, Mini Disc players, etc. Considering most cassette adapters can be purchased for less than $20, it also makes them a viable alternative to FM transmitters.
For more information, read our Cassette Adapter Toplist that showcases some of the best.
Related Articles:
Add to Technorati Favorites
Friday May 11, 2012
The great advantage of listening to audiobooks in iTunes (and on your iPod, iPhone, and iPad), is that the playback position is remembered if you stop listening before reaching the end of the recording. This is a very convenient feature which saves you the trouble of having to remember where you got to next time you listen. Unfortunately, this bookmarking feature isn't available for songs by default.
But, why on earth would you want iTunes to treat a song like it was an audiobook?
Most songs only last a few minutes, but what if you have very long songs like remixes, mash-ups, or audio recordings? Rather than using more destructive methods like splitting your audio files up into smaller parts, or converting to a different format, why not just fool iTunes instead?
You can do this by changing the Media Kind option in iTunes -- that's if you know where to look. This under-the-hood feature enables you to change the way iTunes handles songs by instructing it to treat them as though they are audiobooks. In fact, when you change a song to this media type, iTunes automatically puts it into the Books folder! This technique is also useful if you've ripped audiobooks from CD and they have ended up in the Music section of iTunes instead of the Books category.
To see how easy it is to fool iTunes and make any song bookmarkable, read our guide on How to Make iTunes Songs Act Like Audiobooks.
Related Articles:
Add to Technorati Favorites
