Purchasing Audiobooks: iTunes VS Audible (Amazon)

[Turnpike]

I fully understand the way you buy music or audiobooks on iTunes... the way they have to be on an authorized computer or device, the limits to sharing, etc... (also how you can't burn them to a CD)

My question is more the Audible limits- is anyone here familiar with the limits of "sharing" purchases from here? There is an option to download it into a format to burn your own CD's with the audiobook you purchase from them, is it a clean "free as a bird" copy, such as a copied CD or will the download always be linked to the Audible account?

Aside from price, is there any advantage to buying from Audible vs iTunes or the other way around? I buy a lot, and so far only from iTunes, but if there is more of a freedom to share with Audible, I'd consider that for books I want to put in my iTunes account and also share with family who do not share my iTunes account and authorized devices.

If anyone has experience with using both, it would be very interesting to hear what your preferences are... thanks! (Especially since some audiobooks are $20-$30+ and 5 or 10 of them really end up to an investment of sorts.

Thanks!

 

[Turnpike]

Is any one here familiar with the differences in limits and sharing capabilities of the two sources for audiobooks...?

 

[ecdc]

Audible books are DRM'd and do require you to sign into your Audible account when you first add them to your iTunes library. You can add your files up to four computers and three mobile products. Because it's an Amazon account, if you were to share with another person (instead of just across your own devices), you would have to provide them with your Amazon.com login and password.

I'm pretty pleased with Audible's service. It works off of credits--you sign up, provide payment information, and every month you get a new credit for $14.95. There are higher subscription rates if you need more credits, or you can buy a block of three credits for around $35.

Maybe it depends on what kind of books you listen to, but I've found Audible to be infinitely cheaper than iTunes. But I also usually listen to lengthy history books, so they tend to cost anywhere from $30 to as much as $80 retail. So the $14.95 a month Audible subscription credit is excellent for me, and I've used the "buy three extra credits" from time to time as well.

 

[cbronfman]

Audible is much less costly

I buy a 24 book at a time package which shrinks the average cost of each book to $9.54. There are frequently specials shrinking the costs of books further. I tend to listen to long historical fiction or fiction books and the member price is much less on Audible (and depending on the subscription plan - a good deal less). I have a large credit balance on iTunes but it makes no sense buying audiobooks from them when I can get them for a better price on Audible. Subscription restrictions (copy rite) are similar. If I ever drop my membership in Audible, I believe I will no longer have access to my over 1200 library of books (I've been listening since 2005 or 7). But no, you can't share them.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I lost access to the first and only audiobook I bought from iTunes in 2007. It is simply something I'm never going to do again.

Yes, it is much, much, much cheaper to go the Audible way. There are daily deals, they have surprise sales, they have regular sales, and if you buy the Kindle books, you're usually looking at a 50% savings because it won't usually be more than $1-9 to match it.

You won't lose your library if you cancel BTW. I'm not a paying member, I use coupons mostly.

You can't share them directly, but you can burn them to a CD.