How to Convert Audiobooks from AAX to M4A with Chapters Kept

Audible.com is a place where you can buy and listen to best-selling audiobooks, exclusive music as well as free podcasts easily and quickly. The downloaded Audible audiobooks, however, employ the AAX format with DRM protection. As a result, these files can ONLY be played on Audible.

Therefore, you may find a way to remove DRM protection and convert AAX to M4A, so you'll be able to listen to your audiobooks outside the Audible app or on other unauthorized devices without any limitations. Better yet, you can share your favorite oral stories with your besties.

Fortunately, to convert Audible AAX to M4A with full chapters kept, there are actually multiple ways to help. In the following article, let's see all available methods in detail. Keep on reading!

Way 1. Convert DRM-Protected AAX to M4A Free in Batch (Easy and Lossless)

As mentioned, when Audible has added DRM technology to its audiobook resources, to convert DRM-protected AAX to M4A, you will need help from a professional DRM removal tool. For this purpose, TuneFab Audible Converter is the best choice you should not miss.

TuneFab Audible Converter uses powerful decoding function to remove DRM from protected Audible books of AA or AAX format. It directly embeds the web browser inside the software, so you can directly go to Audible and choose the audiobooks you like to convert and download Audible books to PC/Mac in common M4A, MP3, and other widely-supported formats as you want. You can also upload local AAX books to process the AAX to M4A conversion without hassle.

TuneFab Audible Converter can detect full chapters and ID3 information of each AAX audiobook, then keep them with the converted audio files to save offline for you just by one click.

Now, if you have prepared your protected Audible AAX books to convert to M4A, follow the steps below to process the conversion immediately:

Step 1. Open TuneFab Audible Converter and select the platform. You don't need to log in your Audible account at all.

Step 2. Tap the top-right "Audible book" button. Now you can select the AAX audiobook files saved on your computer for adding to the converter.

Step 3. When the AAX files are imported, go to the "Converting" window to further adjust the output settings. You can choose M4A as the output format here. Also, setting the audio quality to have a better offline playback experience is recommended.

Step 4. Finally, simply click the "Convert All" button to start converting AAX to M4A. TuneFab Audible Converter will remove DRM from the audiobooks at the same time. Once finish, you can get DRM-free M4A audio files for saving on any device to play without limitations!

Way 2. Convert AAX Files to M4A with GitHub Tool (Free but Complicated)

If you want a free tool to convert AAX to M4A, the GitHub tool, AAX Audio Converter can help. This lightweight converter works smoothly and quickly, and which can handle AAX conversion in batches without wasting much of your time. However, its interface is classic and contains much information. You need to do all settings on this one screen before the AAX to M4A conversion all at once. For beginners, it can take a bit more time to get familiar with the operations.

Now, check the tutorial below and learn how to use this GitHub tool to convert AAX to M4A step by step:

Step 1. After installing AAX Audio Converter on your computer, open it and tap the "Add..." button to import AAX files to the converter.

Step 2. Select "Format" as M4A to output the audio files. Next, also choose a mode and select a destination folder to save the converted M4A files as you want.

Step 3. Finally, simply press the "Convert" button to start the conversion. When it is over, you will get the converted M4A audio files in the local folder for playing offline immediately!

Way 3. Convert AAX to M4A Online (Best for DRM-Free AAX Files)

If you prefer to use a free online AAX to M4A converter, Aconvert will make a perfect match for you. With no need to download any software, it also works as an AAX to MP3 converter for a range of formats including WAV, OGG, WMA, AAC, FLAC, AIFF, OPUS, and AMR.

Moreover, it allows you to convert an audio file of less than 40MB over the cloud and resubmit your file when failed. However, it only enables you to convert 2 files at max and the output quality will be a low value. Now, let's go over this online tool and see whether it lives up to your expectations.

Step 1. Open AConvert on your browser, and choose AAX to M4A to continue.

Step 2. Set up the Audio bitrate (32kbps to 320kbps) and Sample rate (11.025kHz to 48kHz).

Step 3. Click Choose Files and add your AAX audiobooks to the web. Then, click Convert Now to start.

Step 4. When the conversion is done, click Download and save the M4A file to your device.

Comparison of the 3 Ways

To help choose the better method to convert AAX to M4A more conveniently, the comparison table below has collected some key points of the 3 introduced methods for you to check quickly:

Is M4A a Good Audio Format for Audiobooks?

You probably wonder why so many people would like to save audiobooks in M4A format. Actually, similar to MP3, M4A is a popular and unencrypted audio file that is compatible with most computers and mobile devices. Better yet, M4A can reach up to higher sound quality with more advanced compression than MP3 does. Thus, M4A is an ideal audio format for audiobooks if you want to enjoy all types of audiobooks on any device you like.

M4A Format Explained

What is M4A? M4A is an audio file extension encoded using AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), which features higher quality and smaller file size. Meanwhile, M4A uses the MPEG-4 container format as MP4, but it can only hold audio content. Also, it's a universally used audio format that is supported by most players and devices.

Is M4A Lossless? Is M4A Higher Quality than MP3?

Being one of the most popular audio container formats, M4A is never lossless. It encodes with lossy compression to keep the best sound quality with the smallest file size. Thanks to that, it becomes the successor to MP3.

As MP3 uses older technologies to compress audio content, its quality will be more lossy than M4A even at the same bitrate. For example, when both formats encode audio content at 256Kbps or higher, M4A can deliver streaming effect closing to lossless. By comparison, MP3 fails to handle high-pitch sounds, and the lossy audio performance may be sensed while playing with professional speakers or headphones.

As a rule, lossless compression takes up much larger storage for more refined details. Therefore, you can also tell from the file size whether an audio file has higher or even lossless quality. Usually, a lossless file is about 10MB per minute, so a lossless 4-minute song should be around 40MB.

FAQs About Converting AAX Audiobooks to M4A

Still, have lingering questions in mind? Take a look at the following answers to set them free.

Q1: MP3 vs M4A vs OGG, which is the best audio format for Audible books?

You may be hesitant about which audio container format is the best when it comes to converting Audible books. According to the table below, it's recommended to consider MP3 or M4A rather than OGG regarding compatibility, though OGG file format usually features higher quality.

Both MP3 and M4A are popularly used on media players and all kinds of devices. Personally, M4A is a better option with higher quality and lossy compression. You may check out the support list for the media player or apps you want to listen to audiobooks and make the decision afterward.

Q2: What program can play .m4a files?

Many popular programs support M4A files, including VLC, iTunes, QuickTime, Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, Winamp, and other media player applications. Besides, most Android and Apple devices can also play MP4 files.

Q3: Can VLC play AAX files?

AAX files are not supported in VLC. If you want to play AAX files, you need to convert them to MP3 formats in VLC. The steps are as follows.

STEP 1. Launch VLC and choose "Media" from the menu bar at the top. Then, select "Convert/Save".

STEP 2. Click the "Add" button to select the file that you want to convert.

STEP 3. Then, move down to the "Convert/Save" button at the lower-right corner of the window and choose the "Convert" option.

STEP 4. Choose the output format "Audio-MP3" from the setting box.

STEP 5. Click the "Start" button to begin the conversion.

Q4: Can you convert an AAX File to MP3?

For sure you can. To convert protected AAX to MP3, you also need help from converters that are equipped with the DRM removal function, just like using TuneFab Audible Converter. In addition, for DRM-free AAX files, using some free online converters can also help you complete the tasks. So based on the AAX files you have and choose the proper solutions to get them converted to MP3 successfully.

Q5: How do I open a .aax File?

At present, as Audible AAX file is protected by DRM, you can't use any common media player to open and play an audio file with ".aax" extension. To get the audiobooks playable, you need to convert AAX to DRM-free audio formats like M4A or MP3 first. Make sure that you use a tool like TuneFab Audible Converter that can also deal with DRM removal. Otherwise, the conversion may fail.

Conclusion

If you have DRM-free AAX files, you can use a free online AAX to M4A converter without any software. The drawback is that online tool doesn't come with the capability of DRM removal. If you've downloaded a bunch of audiobooks from Audible, TuneFab Audible Converter makes it no hassle to convert as many audiobooks as you want to DRM-free M4A with all chapters included. For sure, free option (using a GitHub tool) is also workable, but you may need to take time learning how to use it first. Then, you can dive into the world anywhere at any time with your oral stories.