# Difference between mp3 and m4b?



## RamistThomist

I saw an audio file that was listed "m4b." Will that play on an Itunes Ipod?


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## Semper Fidelis

Ivanhoe said:


> I saw an audio file that was listed "m4b." Will that play on an Itunes Ipod?



Yes. It's an audio book. M4A is an audio format like MP3. It encodes using a different encoder than the MP3 encoder.

The nice thing about an M4B is that iPod treats it like a book and remembers where you stopped so if you go to listen to something else and come back to the book then it will pick up where you left off.

To get the m4b file(s) into your iPod just drag them over to your iTunes.

In fact, Fred turned me on to a way to convert MP3's to M4B's using dBPowerAmp.

Whenever I download lectures from RTS iTunes I go through the following steps:

1. Convert the files en masse from MP3 to M4A.
2. Use MP3Tag to set the Tag information for the files (give them all the same album name and autonumber them from 1 through X so that it will proceed from the end of each lecture to the next).
3. Once all the M4A files have the right id information I just change the extension to M4B since the only difference between an M4A and an M4B is the extension.
4. Drag the files into iTunes.

Voila! When I sync my iPod I know have an album in my iTunes of an RTS lecture series that is in the Audio Book format.


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## fredtgreco

I think also that the latest version of iTunes allows you to "remember the place where you stopped" for MP3s now as well.

Audiobooks also sort distinctly in iTunes.


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## Semper Fidelis

fredtgreco said:


> I think also that the latest version of iTunes allows you to "remember the place where you stopped" for MP3s now as well.
> 
> Audiobooks also sort distinctly in iTunes.



iTunes does, Fred, but my issue is that I listen to my iPod while working out or driving and rarely listen at home. If I stop in the middle of an MP3, I haven't figured out a way for the iPod to remember where I left off with an MP3. It remembers for podcasts but not for other types of recordnings.

One of the reasons I like converting is that I can keep the MP3 files in another folder. I convert to m4b strictly for listening on my iPod but then I keep the original MP3's as I am not sure I'll always simply want the files in m4b but want a copy in a more universal format.


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