Rip Audiobook CD to MP3 in 4 Solutions

By Ivan Scott Updated on 2023-12-29 / Update for Audiobook Tips

With the popularity of audiobooks and audiobook providers, reading may become more accessible. In the past, audiobook CDs were sought-after for entertainment. Nowadays, people prefer to listen to audiobooks on their phones or portable MP3 players instead of using an audiobook CD that can only be played on selected heavy CD players.

Therefore, if you want to play digital audiobooks on more devices, the best way is to rip audiobooks to MP3 files from CDs. Please read on to find the top 4 ways to rip audiobook CD to MP3 with 4 powerful audiobook rippers.

rip audiobook cd to mp3

Part 1. How to Rip Audiobook CD to MP3 via the Best Audiobook Ripperhot tip

Audiobooks in CDs are usually copyright-protected while others may be non-copyrighted. In other words, those protected books can only be streamed on selected devices. Thus, it is requisite to remove the protection from audiobooks on CDs to unprotected files such as the commonly used MP3 using a professional ripper.

The first one we'd like to recommend is the AudFree Audiobook Ripper, also called AudFree Auditior. It is designed to rip both encrypted audiobooks and common audio to local files in various plain formats such as MP3, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4B, etc. without touching the original quality and metadata info. Also, it empowers you to edit the output quality and ID3 tags (title, artist, cover art, year, track number, etc.) to promote audio quality and manage local audiobooks.

This feature-rich tool also enables you to split audiobooks by chapter, fixed times, and segments to save storage space for your MP3 players or other devices.

AudFree Audiobook Ripper

AudFree audiobook cd to mp3 converter
  • Support converting Audible, 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 for 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.

Step 1Move Audiobook from CDs to AudFree Auditior
add audiobook cd to audfree audio converter
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.
Step 2Customize Audiobooks Output Format to MP3
set audiobook cd output format as mp3
Click on the bottom-right "Audio" icon of the audiobook ripping software 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
rip audiobook cd to mp3
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 audiobooks from your CD and convert them 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

As a feature-rich tool, iTunes can also serve as a free CD format to MP3 converter, ripping various CDs to MP3 and AAC files. Please take a look at the how-to guide below:

Step 1. Insert your CD into your computer. Open the iTunes application on your computer. From the top menu bar, click on "File" > "Add Files to Library" and find your audio CD and add audiobooks to iTunes from the CD.

add audio cd to itunes

Step 2. Select the "Preferences" button and switch to the "General" tab.

Step 3. Touch the "Import Settings" button and select "MP3 Encoder" as the output format in the pop-up window.

Step 4. In the "Settings" section, you can set the output audio quality to "High Quality" (160 kbps) and click 'OK' to confirm.

customize import settings as mp3 encoder with high quality

Step 5. Click on "Audio CD" from the right-hand menu bar to load the audio CD to the iTunes library. Then tap on "Yes" from the prompt to confirm the import.

confirm to import audio cd to itunes

Step 6. After you have selected your favorite audiobooks that you would like to import into iTunes, click on the "Import CD" button to rip them. And then your audiobook CDs will be converted to MP3 properly.

rip audiobook cds to mp3 with itunes

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 rip CD to MP3. More importantly, it is supported by almost all types of devices 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 recognize 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.

customize rip format and quality for audiobook cds

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.

rip audiobook cds to mp3 with wmp

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 audio CDs. Therefore, it is very convenient to convert audiobook CD to MP3.

Step 1. Start the VLC media player and insert the audiobook CD into the disc drive on a computer.

Step 2. Click on the "Media" tab in the top left corner of VLC and select "Convert/Save".

convert save option vlc

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.

save cd with vlc

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 audio CD to MP3.

convert cd to mp3 with vlc

Part 5. Summary

This article introduces 4 professional audio CD to MP3 converters to rip audiobook CD to MP3. Also, if you want to convert any audio CD, Audible, or iTunes audiobook, AudFree Audio Converter is a reliable tool. With it, you can also convert audio CDs, AA/AAX audiobooks, iTunes, and Apple Music songs to MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc. for playback on a wide range of media players. Try to enjoy MP3 audiobooks to your heart's content.

Ivan Scott

Ivan Scott

Staff Editor

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Ivan Scott, an audiobook enthusiast with a passion for writing. He keeps up with information and tech skills related to iTunes and Audible audiobooks, and shares them with readers.
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AudFree Auditior

30X convert Apple Music, iTunes podcasts, audiobooks and Audible books. to MP3, etc.