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Hello--
I am not sure if I am asking this in the right place or it can be answered. I have tried to search the Internet and can not find an answer. I have a few small short stories that are in *.mp3 format, but I would like to be able to listen to them with my Audible.com software. I understand that Audible.com uses the following formats *.aa, *.aax, and *.aax+, and I would have to do a conversion. I have not been able to find a way to do this. Can someone please point me in the correct direction on how to do this?

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Short answer for : Audible's official apps are built to play Audible-distributed audiobooks, not arbitrary MP3s, so you generally cannot create a genuine Audible (.aa/.aax) file that the Audible app will accept without Audible's packaging/signing. That makes trying to "convert to Audible" the wrong path. Two practical, legal options will get you listening quickly.

Play the MP3s directly — easiest. Use VLC, the platform music app, or a dedicated audiobook player that supports MP3 and remembers playback position. This avoids any conversion and works on desktop, Android and iOS.

Make them behave like audiobooks — better UX (resume, chapters). Convert your MP3s into an audiobook container such as M4B (an MP4/M4A file with an .m4b extension). That preserves resume behavior in many audiobook apps and lets you join multiple tracks into one file. FFmpeg is a reliable CLI tool for this; GUI apps exist if you prefer point-and-click. Example workflows (replace names as needed):

# single file
ffmpeg -i "story.mp3" -c:a aac -b:a 64k "story.m4b"

# multiple files: create list.txt with:
# file 'part1.mp3'
# file 'part2.mp3'
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i list.txt -c:a aac -b:a 64k "book.m4b"

To add chapter markers or polish metadata, use a chapter editor or audiobook-specific tool after creating the .m4b. On iOS/macOS, importing the .m4b into Apple Books (or marking files as Audiobook in iTunes) gives native audiobook behavior. On Android, many third‑party audiobook players support .m4b and MP3 with bookmarks.

Do not attempt to fake or remove Audible DRM — that is both unsupported by the Audible apps and legally risky. If Audible-specific features (Whispersync, purchases) are required, get the Audible edition. Otherwise, the MP3→M4B route or using a third‑party player will solve the practical listening problem. As and suggested, playing MP3s directly or converting for audiobook players is the most straightforward approach.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

What is the machine/os you are running audible on? VLC runs on all of them (most likely) and can deal with mp3 files without problems, as can many other audio players. Do you HAVE to use audible?

Member Avatar for rubberman

Note that as I understand it, ffmpeg 2.8.1 and later is capable of streaming .aa and .aax files, as well as converting them I would assume. The Audible player only plays audible files, though producers of media can have them available in a non-DRM manner. This may help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audible.com

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