Thoughts on the iPod/Audible 100$ deal...

[M2bored]

As many of you know...Audible has a deal where if you sign up for 1 years worth of service at 15$/month you can get $100 off of an iPod...

I just sold my old 2ng generation 10gb...and I am thinking of buying a 3G 15GB... the thing is that I really wanted to wait and see if new pods came out soon...so that the new lineup would be

20-40-60 with 20 being the $299 iPod...

Well I have only been without my iPod for a week and I am already missing it. I am thinking of going for the audible deal and getting a 15.


Is everyone here happy with audible service?
the 15$ deal allows one subscription and one book per month.


Any opinions?

[Podunk]

Audible rocks! :) Well, I'm obviously biased but I think if you read through some of the posts in this forum, you'll see that a lot of people love it.

[M2bored]

Actually now I am thinking I might go with a mini...its just so small and convenient...hmm
but only 4 GBs....

[arsolot]

I'm very happy with the Audible service. I would say that I listen to music about 1/3 of the time I use my iPod, and listen to a book the rest of the time. I work out listening to Audible content and always look forward to my work out because I get back into my book!

[MikeM]

I've tried several times to look at audible and find stuff I'm interested. I'm not a big fiction reader and therefore my options seem limited.

I really would like to subscribe to a lot of the radio shows and news but the cost is so much more than I'm willing to pay.

Besides, Griffin Tech. claims the radioshark is due out next month!

Anyway, thay $100 off deal sounds great. If you read fiction, go for it!

[arsolot]

MikeM:

I just finished Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. I really enjoyed it. It is a non-fiction book that you may want to consider.

[dordale]

M2bored--

I have a 15gig 3g iPod and my husband has a mini.

I love my 3g iPod, but if I were buying new, I think I'd go with the mini. You can really fit quite a bit of music and audio books in 4 gigs. And I love the size of the thing!

Either way, I think you'll be happy!
dordale :)

[BigD]

I have had my 2g ipod for almost 2 years and I ONLY listen to audible on it. I think I may have used my itrip for music a few times, but it's mostly the books.

I have a 2 book per month subscription and I find it hard to keep up with them!

It's a good deal you might as well do it - then you can turn around a sell it if you want.

Denise

[DylPod]

I broke down and subscribed to Audible even though I'm unhappy with the encoding quality. But Audible is so much better and cheaper then any other way of getting audiobooks that I will just suffer with the quality.

Anyway, I wanted to mention that the $100 coupon can be used for anything at Crutchfield - not just the players they mention. For some reason, you can't get to the Crutchfield offer through the site. I could only find the J&R offer. But after I signed up for a monthly plan I received an email a few days later with a link for the Crutchfield deal if I agreed to a year's sub.

[eriqesque]

So you spend $180 to save $100

[arsolot]

Originally posted by eriqesque
So you spend $180 to save $100

Yes, that's not much of a deal if you don't want an iPod or want to subscribe to Audible.

But . . .

If you do want an iPod and want to subscribe to Audible, then getting an iPod for $100 off and a year's subcription to a great service is a really, really good deal.

[M2bored]

basically this lets you get the audible subscription for 6.66/month instead of 15$ for the first year.... sounds pretty good to me...

If i could only decide between the 15gb and the mini...grrr

[robert]

Originally posted by DylPod
I broke down and subscribed to Audible even though I'm unhappy with the encoding quality. But Audible is so much better and cheaper then any other way of getting audiobooks that I will just suffer with the quality...


Unhappy with the encoding quality? Really? Amazing. What format are you using? I find that two is not too bad and four is excellent. Perhaps you got a poorly recorded book or one that was originally recorded at low- or non-digital quality. I remember "Atonement" voice quality was so bad that I went to four from two. Still was bad. Of course, if you don't have a high-speed connection, I can see how you might want to use a lower quality format to reduce download time.
I always listen to the sample before deciding to download a book -- it has saved me from a few poorly read books.

[robert]

Originally posted by BigD
...I have a 2 book per month subscription and I find it hard to keep up with them! ...
Denise

If you have a hard time keeping up with two books, check out the Ultimate Listener Plan iPodLounge Thread (Click Here) (http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13888) . 12 books for up front $120, discounts on subscriptions and 24 months to use up the credits. Be sure to see the thread for details. Renewal is a little tricky -- they will charge you on first anniversary unless you ask Audible not to. Again, tho, see the UL thread (Click Here) (http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13888) . There are already two threads on Ultimate Listener and don't need a third one here.

BTW, Denise. Thanks for the reinforcement on "Across the Nightingale Floor." It was great and now half way through "Grass for his Pillow."

Also, dordale mentioning that has mini and hubby an iPod, makes me think about setting up a second account to buy a mini for $150. With, say, two UL accounts. They will accept UL as an initial subscription. Does the $100 discount apply to mini?

[sahmad88]

I love Audible. If you like books on tape, then it is a great deal. I also don't have a problem at all with the audio quality.

I actually had the audible service first. Then got the ipod since it is compatible with audible and I was tired of buring my own CD's just to make mp3 files out of the books. Now I am really happy. With both audible and ipod!

[DylPod]

Originally posted by robert
Unhappy with the encoding quality? Really? Amazing. What format are you using? I find that two is not too bad and four is excellent.

And I'm amazed that more people aren't dissatisified with the sound quality. I mean you'd never accept music encoded this poorly, would you? I can understand that they are good enough to understand and you don't want to make the tradeoff of more space for better sound. But do you really find them to sound "excellent"? Is it that you don't hear the compression artifacts or you do hear them but think the quality is good enough for voice only?

People complain constantly that iTMS is only 128 bit AAC. And that format is indistinguishable from CD in many circumstances.

I've tried all the formats. I generally prefer 3 because at least they apply a low pass filter that removes the "whoosh whoosh" phasey sounds from low bitrate compression. And it's a format more suited to low bitrates. MP3 is universally acknowledged as being a terrible format for low bitrates. Even so, they could improve format 4 a lot if they just used a low pass filter to remove the most offending artifacts.

I wish Audible would give a choice for higher bitrates. Hell, I'd even pay more for it.

[dordale]

I've been a happy audible customer for almost three years (!!) First joined audible when they were offering Rio500's for $50 when you purchase a one year subscription.

I'm very happy with the sound quality of audible. My Rio would only play formats 1 and 4--I tried some books at format 1 because I could fit quite a few more hours on my Rio that way. I found that format 1 was really unacceptable in most circumstances, but to my ears format 4 sounds great.

When the iPod added audible support, I bugged my husband until he bought me one for my birthday--now I have the best of both worlds--can use format 4 and fit lots of books on my iPod!

When I rip my own audio book files I use a low bit rate (usually 32kbps--sometimes I use 64kbps--mono) I rip most music at 192kbps--there is a big difference between spoken word and music files!

dordale :)

[DylPod]

Originally posted by dordale
When I rip my own audio book files I use a low bit rate (usually 32kbps--sometimes I use 64kbps--mono) I rip most music at 192kbps--there is a big difference between spoken word and music files!

Is the differerence between spoken word and music that you care more about sound quality regarding music or that you just don't hear any problems with the Audible encoding. I'm not trying to be confrontational. I'm curiuos.

[TMatu311]

You cant have both the $100 gift certificate and the Otis correct? You can only have one of the two? And does anyone have an idea when Crutchfield will have some Mini's in stock or do the other websites have them? thanks

[Podunk]

Thats right....its one or the other. You can't get both deals.

But the $100 off is available at a number of retailers, besides Crutchfied. Amazon, MicroCenter, Tweeter, and some others also have it. Click on the link on Audible's home page and the full list or retailers is there.

[TMatu311]

Someone mentioned that the discount could be used on all products. So I can buy multiple accessories for my iPod without spending any money (besides Audible monthly) ?

[jmhunter83]

I would have to say Nay. I joined Audible, and immedaitely unjoined. Realisining a lot of the content that audible provides costs about 1/3 at itunes. I.E. Look up al frankens new book, audible.com its like $17, i think on itunes its $4... food for thought, i just bought my ipod and seriously thought about joining in order to get the deal. But I didn't, paid full price for my pod at target, and joined audible for the half off deal, and then unjoined immediatly.
I really like the daily All things considered subscription though, will miss that after my sub is done

[Podunk]

Don't get too used to those iTunes prices. iTunes was running a special promotion on six books, (including Al Franken) that ends April 9th. The regular price at iTunes for Al Franken is $21.95.

The ala carte prices for individual book purchases are about the same at Audible or iTunes But Audible's "subscription plan" definately offers more value if you listen to books or other audio programs on a regular basis.

p.s. even if you "unjoin" from the AudibleListener plan, you can still purchase All Things Considered (or any book/program) seperately at Audible, either as a subscription or on a show-by-show basis.

[galaxygrrl]

Originally posted by TMatu311
Someone mentioned that the discount could be used on all products. So I can buy multiple accessories for my iPod without spending any money (besides Audible monthly) ?

Yes!!! Crutchfield is a great, great, deal. You can get anything you want for your $100

Originally posted by parannoya
Don't get too used to those iTunes prices. iTunes was running a special promotion on six books, (including Al Franken) that ends April 9th. The regular price at iTunes for Al Franken is $21.95.

Actually iTunes regular price is always!!!! more than Audible's. And yes iTunes was running a promotion and those prices wont last.

[Podunk]

[i] Actually iTunes regular price is always!!!! more than Audible's. And yes iTunes was running a promotion and those prices wont last. [/B]


Thats not true. Example.

Evening at the Improv-Volume 1 Regular price.
iTunes $10.95
Audible $11.95


Go figure.

[chucka]

Originally posted by parannoya
Don't get too used to those iTunes prices. iTunes was running a special promotion on six books, (including Al Franken) that ends April 9th. The regular price at iTunes for Al Franken is $21.95.


where did you find the 6 books on sell? i'll have to check when i get home since today is the last day. :eek:

[Podunk]

I got it in the iTunes "New Music Tuesday" email.

I already deleted it. All I can remember is Al Franken and Ben Franklin.....

I don't think there is any special sale section at the iTMS. I think you just have to know which books and the price is super low.

[galaxygrrl]

Originally posted by parannoya
Thats not true. Example.

Evening at the Improv-Volume 1 Regular price.
iTunes $10.95
Audible $11.95


Go figure.

That is so odd. Hmmmmm.

OK 95% of the time!