Converting/Merging Multiple part multi-chapter M4Bs to single MP3 Audiobook

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The.Great.ESCape
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2019 8:51 am

Converting/Merging Multiple part multi-chapter M4Bs to single MP3 Audiobook

Post by The.Great.ESCape »

Due to the usual size limit on M4Bs I have quite a few audiobooks in my library that are split into parts. Which ends up with an audiobook often split into 3 or 4 M4Bs each being chaptered. To complicate things a little the numbering of chapters often starts over for each M4B. So, if I extract all the M4Bs of the audiobook at once I end up with a bit of a mess and am unsure of the proper ordering of all the resulting M4As. This is less of a how to question and more just asking if I can be sure that if I Merge A multi-m4b audiobook to a single MP3 audiobook that all the chapter's/files will be processed and merged in the same order listed in Xrecode3. I have a multi-core processor so it's easy to watch it extract files out of order... I assume because the smaller chapters finish first, and that has nothing to do with their proper reading order.

Currently, I have been extracting each M4B individually, Then using a file renamer to add a prefix like "part 1 - ", "part 2 - " , etc. to each batch of M4As in order to assure they all sort into their proper reading order. I then feed all the M4As of multiple M4Bs back into Xrecode3 to convert/merge to a single mp3 file with a cue file to keep the chapter information. So, yeah, I really just want to know if I need to go through all the extra steps I've created for my peace of mind in the result... or if I can just throw in the multiple Multi-chapter M4Bs and merge to single MP3 all in in one go without any worry as to the order the chapters all get stitched back together?
admin
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Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:56 pm

Re: Converting/Merging Multiple part multi-chapter M4Bs to single MP3 Audiobook

Post by admin »

Can't you just add all those M4B files to the program, select Merge/CUE as action, select MP3 as an output format and convert them all at once to a single mp3?
The.Great.ESCape
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2019 8:51 am

Re: Converting/Merging Multiple part multi-chapter M4Bs to single MP3 Audiobook

Post by The.Great.ESCape »

I assume so, but I am uncertain of the software's internal procedures. Thus I am uncertain when I for example throw in 3 M4Bs (Book Part 1.M4B, Book Part 2.M4B, Book Part 3.M4B) and see something like:

Book Part 1.M4B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Book Part 2.M4B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Book Part 3.M4B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12

I know that if I extract these all to one folder in one operation that I will have a little difficulty sorting them into chronological order. Given (I assume) that the possibility or extraction was never thought of when making these M4Bs. Granted, the naming is oversimplified, but the same numbering is the point.

So my question is, will XRecode3 maintain the proper order of operations to merge the 36 chapters shown despite the fact that many have the exact same chapter names?
admin
Site Admin
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Re: Converting/Merging Multiple part multi-chapter M4Bs to single MP3 Audiobook

Post by admin »

Yes, the files will be processed/merged in the same order they were added.
So the output mp3 file will be like:

From Book Part 1.M4B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
...
From Book Part 2.M4B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
...
From Book Part 3.M4B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
....
The.Great.ESCape
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2019 8:51 am

Re: Converting/Merging Multiple part multi-chapter M4Bs to single MP3 Audiobook

Post by The.Great.ESCape »

Thank you so much. That's what wanted to know. This will make things a little faster knowing that for sure.

Sorry if it seems like an idiotic thing to ask, but sometimes you just never know. So, I appreciate you humoring me.
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