What is your choice of audiobook player for Windows 10/11?

[rumplestiltskin]

The only thing I've found so far is VLC as it does support changing chapters but it doesn't remember where in the book I've left off.

On Android, I've found Sirin works great; but is there anything that works properly for Windows?

Thanks

[Martinoptic]

Are you using m4b or mp3? Or something else?

[rumplestiltskin]

".ogg" container with mp3 inside. Ssirin works perfectly on Android. Looking for similar functionality on Win10/11.

[JSWolf]

What features do you want?

[rumplestiltskin]

Desired features:
- Read .ogg containers with mp3 or m4b contents.
- Keep track of where I left off listening (like any ePub reader would when reading).
- Permit chapter selection (again, like any ePub reader would when reading).

As I mentioned, above, Sirin on my Android-enabled Kindle Fire seems to do all of the above. I don't want to install an Android emulator on my PC. VLC does chapter selection in Windows but doesn't remember where I left off.

Everything I've tried so far either doesn't do chapter selection (although a few do support a "prev/next" set of buttons that work).

Some apps don't support .ogg containers but will work if I keep all the chapters separate as discreet mp3s. Management of thousands of mp3 chapters isn't practical.

If ePub manages to support multiple chapters in its container, I'd like that same convenience with my audiobooks.

HOWEVER: If I need to abandon .ogg for some other container (still one container with multiple mp3/m4b chapters therein), tell me what container format and I'll try it.

Thank you for your assistance.

[rumplestiltskin]

Okay; I've tried a few things:

Zip'd all the mp3's without any compression.

- VLC was able to open and play the file and even display the various chapters in its playlist. I was able to switch to any chapter directly without having to repeatedly click the "prev" or "next" buttons. I'll have to check whether Sirin can handle such a file; if so, then zip'ing all the chapters together is a solution.

- Tried an old app called "MP3 to iPod Audiobook Converter". It combined all the mp3 files into an m4b.
Unfortunately, that file doesn't expose its chapters when playing in VLC; click the "next" button and you're at the end of the book. Even tried iTunes on my PC but, even there, no chapter love - same behavior as VLC.

I'll report back on Sirin's behavior with the zip'd mp3's.

[rumplestiltskin]

VLC doesn't remember the last played position. *sigh*

[rumplestiltskin]

Okay; after trying dozens of Windows apps (I'm serious) that claim to be audiobook readers, I've finally found one that:

1. Has no trouble playing an m4b container containing mp3 chapters.
2. Displays a chapter list that's selectable.
3. Actually remembers the last played position without having to manually set a bookmark.

It's called PotPlayer and may be found here: https://potplayer.daum.net/

So I think I've found my system to manage my audiobooks without having to store thousands of separate chapters as mp3's.

1. Use NCH Switch Sound File Converter to create the m4b container and fill it with the mp3 files (chapters).
2. Use PotPlayer to play the m4b on my PC.
3. Use Sirin to play the m4b on my Android-enabled Kindle Fire. (Sirin supports all three reqiurements as listed above.)

I hope my journey might help other readers. Cheers!

[Karellen]

Create an Audiobook library in Kodi. It can save chapters and resume points...

https://kodi.wiki/view/Audiobooks

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rumplestiltskin

Okay; after trying dozens of Windows apps (I'm serious) that claim to be audiobook readers, I've finally found one that:

1. Has no trouble playing an m4b container containing mp3 chapters.
2. Displays a chapter list that's selectable.
3. Actually remembers the last played position without having to manually set a bookmark.

It's called PotPlayer and may be found here: https://potplayer.daum.net/

So I think I've found my system to manage my audiobooks without having to store thousands of separate chapters as mp3's.

1. Use NCH Switch Sound File Converter to create the m4b container and fill it with the mp3 files (chapters).
2. Use PotPlayer to play the m4b on my PC.
3. Use Sirin to play the m4b on my Android-enabled Kindle Fire. (Sirin supports all three reqiurements as listed above.)

I hope my journey might help other readers. Cheers!

The one serious flaw with PotPlayer is that when you stop it, it resets the speed you've set. So if I set 1.3x speed and then stop, it will resume at 1x.

Is there any eBook player that will remember the speed I set and have a fine enough speed setting?

[Quoth]

I'd not have considered audiobooks on windows since February 2006, when I got a 160G HDD PMP which had massive battery life. Since then only better, though the Android phones that replaced the PMP only had 32 G SD cards till more recently (now I have 256 G SD card in phone)

Now I'd use musicolet on Android.

[JSWolf]

The problem with MP3 players for adiobooks is that there probably isn't a speed adjustment. Most of the time I do want to increase the speed. Also, if you want to play something else, you'll lose your listening position for your audiobook.

However, if your MP3 player is Android based, you may be able to install an app for reading your audiobooks.

[Quoth]

Cassette tape is the ultimate Audio book format to remember location even between players (desktop, pocket, car)
The forgetting location is a big issue with CDs and cassette quality is good enough for speech. Few have speed adjustment.
Also you can store more per cassette than CD. An unabridged 80,000 word novel is a lot of cassettes or CDs, so I'm happy to use Android and Musicolet. I've always bought a phone with a micro SD card slot.

Musicolet: You can adjust speed, pitch and set a minimum duration to remember position.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Cassette tape is the ultimate Audio book format to remember location even between players (desktop, pocket, car)
The forgetting location is a big issue with CDs and cassette quality is good enough for speech. Few have speed adjustment.
Also you can store more per cassette than CD. An unabridged 80,000 word novel is a lot of cassettes or CDs, so I'm happy to use Android and Musicolet. I've always bought a phone with a micro SD card slot.

Musicolet: You can adjust speed, pitch and set a minimum duration to remember position.

What I would like it to have higher quality audiobooks. I would go with 256K instead of 128K, 64K, or 32K.

[JSWolf]

Here's a really interesting audiobook player for Windows.

https://openaudible.org