5-Minute Tracks...

[readerbob]

First I wish to thank the readers and other individuals that have created and maintained the Librivox website. I have downloaded several books and I appreciate them. One thing I do not like are the long tracks (sometimes 30 minutes or more); I prefer audio-books with 5 minute tracks.

One issue with long tracks: if you accidentally turn-off your mp3 player, or accidentally push a wrong button, you are forced to start the track over again from the beginning. This is very frustrating if you are near the end of a very long track (e.g., 20 minutes into a 30-minute track). I have failing eyesight -- so I often push the wrong button at the wrong time.

I have developed a relatively simple and fast method of converting your books to have flawless 5-minute mp3 tracks using a few freeware applications. The tracks are approximately 5-minutes, not exactly 5-minutes (as required to prevent word-breaks or other distortions). It took a significant amount of time to test freeware applications and select those that worked (most of the mp3 tool freeware applications are bug-ridden or limited -- thus unusable). If anyone is interested I can provide full details (the method allows the user to set the track duration in increments of minutes; e.g., 3, or 4, or 5, or 6, etc., minutes per track).

In addition your mp3 Tag information is typically incomplete and/or incorrect. As a final step in revising the tracks I use the excellent German freeware application MP3Tag to make corrections.

[annise]

I guess it depends on how you listen. I always use the M4B files - but that seems to only work on iThings. It bookmarks several books at a time if needed
And having all 5 minute tracks would increase the number of disclaimer.
Whenever preferred file lengths have been discussed with listeners about 30 minutes seems to be popular but I suspect it depends on the type of project and the type of listener

Anne

[carteki]

Thanks you. It must be a matter of personal preference as I don't like unnecessarily split chapters. You can download any number of apps that will "remember" your last place for android phones. These also allow the use of m4b files. I use Smart AudioBook. Which cost $2.