Audiobooks have changed how we enjoy literature, making it easier and more convenient than ever. While CDs were once the primary format for audiobooks, the rise of MP3 players, smartphones, and streaming platforms has shifted the focus to digital formats. Today, most people prefer portable devices over bulky CD players for their audiobook needs.
If you have a collection of older audiobook CDs gathering dust, don't worry, you can rip audiobook CD to MP3 and other digital formats following this guide. Keep reading to discover the top 5 ways to easily modernize your audiobook library for better flexibility and convenience!
See also: How to Convert Audible to MP3 Free/Online/on PC/Mac
Part 1. How to Rip Audiobook CD to MP3 via the Best Audiobook Ripper
For those CD audiobook files with copyright protection, it's essential to remove restrictions to convert them into versatile formats like MP3. This process requires a professional tool to ensure smooth, high-quality conversion.
Our top recommendation is AudFree Audiobook Ripper, also known as AudFree Auditior. This powerful software can rip both encrypted audiobooks and standard audio files into popular formats such as MP3, AAC, FLAC, M4A, and M4B, all while preserving the original quality and metadata. It also lets you customize output settings, including audio quality and ID3 tags (title, artist, album art, year, track number, etc.), making it easy to manage your audiobook library.
Additionally, AudFree Audiobook Ripper offers a smart feature to split audiobooks by chapter, time intervals, or segments. This helps reduce file sizes, saving storage space on MP3 players and other devices. With its robust features, this tool is perfect for unlocking and optimizing your audiobook collection.
AudFree Audiobook Ripper
- Support converting Audible books, Apple Music, and iTunes music to various files
- Convert audiobooks from CD to MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, etc.
- Customize output audio parameters such as sample rate, bit rate, audio channels, etc.
- Split large audiobooks into small segments by chapters
How to Convert Audio CD to MP3 Audiobooks with AudFree Auditior
You can install the AudFree Audiobook Ripper on your Windows or macOS computer to give it a shot. Please walk through the following user guide about ripping audiobooks from CDs to MP3 for playback on all devices without restrictions.
🌟 Note: Before you convert CD audio file to MP3, please ensure your computer have a built-in or external disc drive to read your CDs.
- Step 1Move Audiobook from CDs to AudFree Auditior
- Insert the audiobook CD into your computer and locate the media files stored in the CD. On the one hand, you can opt to drag and drop the aduiobooks from your CD to the AudFree Auditior directly. On the other hand, please click on the second "Add" button at the bottom left of the tool to locate the target folder of the CD and select the audiobooks in it to add to the ripper. By the way, hover over the added items and tap on the right 'Edit' icon on them, and then you can split those audiobooks into chapters, edit the file's ID3 tags, and adjust the audiobook volume.
- Step 2Customize Audiobooks Output Format to MP3
- Click on the bottom-right "Audio" icon of the audiobook ripper to open the Format Setting window. This way, you can define the output format of the added audiobooks as MP3. Beyond that, you have the opportunity to change other output parameters including the bit rate, sample rate, audio channel, codec, and more to enhance output quality. Please note, suppose you select the bottom "Keep lossless quality(AA, AAX)" option, the AA or AAX books will be ripped to MP3 and M4A files respectively.
- Step 3Rip Audiobook to MP3 from CDs
- When all settings are ready, please hit on the "Convert" button at the bottom-right corner. This smart CD to MP3 Converter will begin to extract and convert audiobooks to MP3 audio files losslessly. After conversion, you can locate converted MP3 audiobooks by touching the bottom "File" icon and transfer them to your favorite MP3 players or other devices for offline playback permanently.
Part 2. How to Rip Audiobook CD to MP3 via iTunes/Apple Music
As a feature-rich tool, iTunes can also serve as a free CD to MP3 converter, ripping various unprotected CDs to MP3 and AAC files. Below is how to convert CD to MP3 via iTunes (Widnows) and Apple Music (Mac).
Step 1. Insert your CD into your computer. Then, your computer will detect the CD and popup the audiobook CD file folder. Click Yes to comfirm importing the CD to your music library.
🌟 Note: If you use a Macbook, you may need an USB A to C adapter to connect the disk drive and your laptop.
Step 2. Click Import CD at the upper right corner on iTunes/Apple Music app. Then, you can select MP3 Encoder as import format and customize the audio quality. Click OK to save your settings.
🌟 Note: If you don't see the button on iTunes, go to Edit > Preferences > General > Import Settings, and select "MP3 Encoder" as the output format in the pop-up window.
Step 3. Wait for Apple Music to complete ripping audio files from CDs. If it finishes, there will display green ticks on all imported CD audio tracks.
Step 4. Plug out your disk drive. Tap Albums on Apple Music leftside bar and you'll find the audiobooks on CD are collected at one album. Simply double-click the track, and start playing on your Mac computer! You can also find the converted audiobook file under Music folder on your computer.
📝 Tip: If you want to listen to audiobooks converted from CDs on other Apple devices, ensure you turn on the iCloud, and enable the Sync Library option under Apple Music Settings > General section.
See also: Burn Audible Books to CD
Part 3. How to Rip Audiobook to MP3 from CD via Windows Media Player
Apart from the iTunes app, Windows Media Player is also an effective tool to convert CD audio file to MP3 format, if your CD audio files are unprotected. More importantly, it is supported by almost all types of computers around. Without further ado, just follow the steps below to rip audiobook from CD to MP3.
Step 1. Please put your audiobook CD into the CD/DVD drive of your computer. You will see Windows Media Player will pop up to detect the CD automatically. Then the audiobooks on the CD will be displayed on the audio player and a "Rip CD" button will appear at the top menu bar.
Step 2. Please choose the audiobooks you want to rip to MP3 and click the "Rip Settings" button on the right of "Rip CD" from the top menu bar. Then from the dropdown list, select "Format" > "MP3". Also, you can select "Audio Quality" as up to 320kbps.
Step 3. Once all things are done, please simply hit on the "Rip CD" button, and audiobooks from the CD will be ripped as MP3 with ease. The ripping time depends on your CD/DVD drive speed and CPU speed.
Part 4. How to Rip Audiobook from CD to MP3 via VLC Music Player
VLC Media Player is a popular media player for playing images, audio, and video. It is also a transcoder, supporting playback and conversion of dozens of input and output formats including VCDs, DVDs, and unencrypted audio CDs. Therefore, it is very convenient to convert audiobook CD to MP3. Below is how to convert CD to MP3 using VLC media player.
Step 1. Launch the VLC media player and insert the audiobook CD into the disc drive on your computer.
Step 2. Click on the "Media" tab in the top left corner of VLC and select "Convert/Save".
Step 3. From the pop-up "Open Media" window, switch to the "Disc" section. Afterward, select "Audio CD" under the "Disc Selection" section.
Step 4. Click on the "Browse..." button and tap the Up arrow to set your starting track number to 1. Hit on "Convert/Save" at the bottom of the screen.
Step 5. From the new "Convert" screen, select "Audio - MP3" from the drop-down options in the "Profile" box.
Step 6. Tap the "Browse" button to set the save location and name for your audio file. Click the "Start" button to convert CD audio file to MP3.
Part 5. How to Rip Audiobook to MP3 via Audio CD to MP3 Converter Online
If you don't want to install additional applications on your computer, here are some useful online audio CD to MP3 converters for you. With these tools, you can convert audiobook CD to MP3 even easier. However, these converters are only available with unprotected audiobook CDs.
After you insert the audiobook CD on the disk drive of the computer, drag and drop the files into this webpage. Then, you can select MP3 as the output format, customize the audio quality, and even edit the track info.
#2. AnyConv CDA to MP3 Converter
Simply drag and drop your CD audio file into the upload area on this webpage. Then, follow the instructions to rip audiobook CD to MP3 and download the converted file to your computer.
🌟 Note: This online converter only supports converting files within 100 MB.
#3. Convertio CDDA to MP3 Converter
The Convertio CDDA to MP3 Converter also supports advanced settings on your imported CD audio files. You can freely clip audio files and change the volume with this CD to MP3 converter. Additionally, it allows every user to convert files within 100 MB. If your files are larger than 100 MB, you can also register an account to expand the limitation.
Part 6. Summary
With 5 practical ways introduced in this article, you can easily rip audiobook CD to MP3. iTunes, Windows Media Player, VLC media player, and online CD to MP3 converters are convenient tools to convert CD audio file to MP3 format. However, if you want to convert any protected audio CD or Audible/ iTunes audiobook, AudFree Audio Converter is a reliable tool. With it, you can also convert Apple Music songs to MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc. for playback on various media players. Try to enjoy MP3 audiobooks with AudFree Auditior free trial today!
Ivan Scott
Staff Editor
