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How to convert DRM-protected Audible .AA files to DRM-free .MP3 files so that you can play them on any player.

Goldwave is an audio conversion program. It requires Audible Codecs to perform the conversion. You should install Audible Manager before Goldwave, so that Goldwave can open audible .AA audio files.

You need an older version of Audible to be able to convert with Goldwave. Try to download "audibleMediaPlayerFilter.exe" and install it.
Download audibleMediaPlayerFilter.exe:

http://www.coolutils.com/Downloads/audibleMediaPlayerFilter.exe

When installing Audible software, make sure to select the "Listen on my Computer" option so that the correct files are installed by Audible for your Windows Media player. If you can listen to your .AA files in your Windows Media Player, then your Audible Manager is installed correctly.

Please note, that the newest version of of Goldwave require payment after a trial period. Download Goldwave 5.06 or earlier to get an older full version that never expires.

1. Log into you Audible account
2. Download and install Audible Manager
3. In the Audible Manager select "Edit" -> "Options" and see the "Location of Audio Files". Your .AA files will be downloaded into this folder.
4. Download an .AA audiobook from Audible.
5. Close the Audible Manager.
6. Run Goldwave
7. Select "File" -> "Open" and load the .AA audiobook from the audible download directory (see above).
   
   Note that Goldwave may require the ID and password of the Audible user who originally purchased the file before it can be opened.
8. Select "File" -> "Save". Select MP3 format, 128kbps, 44100 Hz.
9. Save the MP3 file into the target directory.
   
   Note: If you get the "Encoder not found. A recent version of the MPEG Layer 3 encoder LAME MP3 cannot be found" error, then you need to download the LAME encoder. You can usually click the "Download" button in the Goldwave window to download and install it.
10. You can use Goldwave to split MP3 file into several files:
    1. In step 8, instead of doing the "File" -> "Save", click on "Options" -> "File Format".
    2. Select the "Default Save Format" tab and select the format you need (MP3, WMA, etc.)
    3. In the attributes box, select which attribute you want and then make sure to check the "Use this format for Save As, Save Selection As, and Copy To" box. The Auto Cue setting discussed next won't work unless you set the Default Save format first.
    4. Click on "Tool" -> "Cue Points" -> "Auto Cue". Select the "Spacing" tab.
    5. The "Starting at time" should be 0.00. In the "Interval" box, select the length you want your tracks to be.
       Note that 1.0, 2.0, 5.0 etc. are seconds, not minutes! Five minutes is shown as 5:00.00, thirty minutes is shown as 30:00.00. One hour is shown as 1:00:00.00.
    6. Click on "OK" and the "Cue list" will be shown.
    7. Click "Split File". In the Destination Folder navigate to the folder where your files will be be saved.
    8. In the "Base filename" box, it will show track# or track##. The number of number (#) signs is how digits will be in the track number.
       If there will be 9 or less tracks, it should be "track#".
       If there will be 10 to 99 tracks, it should be "track##".
       If there will be 100 to 999 tracks, it should be "track###".
    9. In the "First number" box, put whatever number you like the first track to have. (This is handy if you are converting a book that has multiple parts)
    10. When you are done, click "OK" and Goldwave will start processing the tracks.
    You can also split MP3 with MP3DirectCut as well as other programs.

Note: audibleMediaPlayerFilter.exe doesn't seem to support Windows 7, so you need to use other methods mentioned in the previous post to remove DRM protection from .AA files (for example: DRM removal software like Soundtaxi works in Windows 7 x32 and x64).