"I've got several audiobooks I purchased and downloaded from Audible.com that I want to play on my MP3 player. They are in AAX format and I use a MacBook. How can I convert and play them on my MP3 player?" Audible is a popular digital audiobook seller that is owned by Amazon. It's got all kinds of programming and they helped to make Audible currently the biggest downloadable audiobook producer in the world. If you want to know how to convert AAX to MP3, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the 3 best tools for Mac users.


Part 1: AAX vs. MP3

A lot of people download audiobooks from Audible. The audiobooks you download from Audible's website are in either AA or AAX formats. The AAX file extension is a container format storing Audiobook data. It is developed by Audible to save all the files contain images, links, videos, and timelines. They are also known as the advanced version of AA format files. This type of file can be recognized by multiple platforms such as Amazon Kindle, iTunes, Apple iPod, etc. Generally, AAX comes with DRM protection.

Almost all the digital audio files can be opened and also viewed in MP3 format by utilizing a different type of software. As a common music format, MP3 files are encoded using MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III. This type of format is able to compress the audio data into a smaller size by lossy methods. Although this is based on the reduction of accuracy, the MP3 format still receives huge acceptance from various devices and products.

Compared to AAX, MP3 formats have a lot of advantages. There are some discrepancies between AAX and MP3. The first thing you need to notice is that they are conducting different codec sets. Secondly, MP3 is usually playable without any concerns about DRM.

If you've purchased and downloaded audiobooks from Audible before, you would know that they've got DRM protections on them and you can only play those audiobooks with iTunes or Audible's own program. But in real life, you might want to listen to the audiobooks you download from Audible with different audio players or on different devices. But the DRM protection on them would prevent you from doing so. So if you want to play the protected audiobooks with different audio players or on other mobile handsets, you are going to have to remove the DRM protection from the Audible audiobooks first and convert them to ordinary audio files.

Part 2: How to Convert AAX to MP3 on Mac with Leawo Prof. DRM?

As we know that AAX is a common Audible audiobook format and it usually contains DRM protections. To convert AAX to MP3, we are going to need a program that can remove the DRM protection from the AAX audiobooks. Here I would show you a program that can eliminate DRM from AAX audiobook and convert AAX to MP3 on Mac or Windows. The program is Leawo Prof. DRM.

  • Leawo Prof. DRM
  • Leawo Prof. DRM

    1. Convert iTunes DRM-protected M4V movie and TV show to DRM-Free MP4
    2. Remove DRM from M4B, AA, AAX files and convert any Audible AA, AAX file to MP3, even without iTunes authorization
    3. Convert iTunes DRM-Protected M4P and non-DRM iTunes M4A Music to MP3
    4. Remove DRM-protection on Spotify music and convert to Universal audio format for enjoying music offline on any devices
    5. Convert DRM-protected eBook from Kindle, Kobo, Adobe to DRM-free epub, mobi, azw3, txt, etc., format

The formidable Leawo Prof. DRM software is capable of removing DRM from Audible audiobooks. And that's only one small part of its capabilities. It was first developed to help Mac users to convert iTunes M4A music to MP3 files. Besides, this tool features the DRM removal process for Spotify music, TV shows, movies, and audiobooks on Mac. To make it a perfect DRM removal program, the Audible audiobook DRM removal feature was added. Thence, users are welcome to take advantage of it to convert AAX to MP3 Mac at 50X higher speed while decrypting DRM from Audible audiobooks as well. At the same time, users are allowed to maintain the original data after the conversion. No matter what media content would be, 1:1 quality is guaranteed. Apart from the description, you are free to adjust various parameters according to demands. In particular, you can obtain even Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound for the source audio tracks. If you are a fan of eBooks, this product will assist with multiple conversions such as converting MOBI to EPUB.

Since Leawo Prof. DRM is designed with a user-friendly interface, the instruction to convert AAX to MP3 are simple and easy. Below are the steps for how to convert AAX to MP3 on Mac. Note that there are two versions available for both Mac and Windows systems. Windows instruction is similar.

Step 1. Import AAX audiobooks to Leawo Prof. DRM for Mac

Download and install the best DRM removal for Mac. Launch Leawo Prof. DRM and enter the module of “Audible Converter”.

To add source files, click the “Add Files” button to import the AAX files. You can also directly drag and drop the source AAX to the interface of the program.

Note: When importing source AAX audiobooks, you might be asked to get authorization from Audible. Just sign in to Audible with your Amazon account and the authorization will be done. If you directly drag and drop the source AAX audiobooks to the interface of the program, you won't need authorization from Audible.com.

Step 2. Tweak the parameters of the audiobooks

This step is optional. If you want to change the audio parameters, just select the file that you want to change, and then click on the “Edit” button on it. The audio parameters that you can adjust include BitRate, Sampling Rate, and Channels.

Step 3. Set up the default output directory

The output directory is where the converted AAX audiobooks are going to be saved. The default output directory is shown in the bottom left-hand corner. To set a new directory, just click on the "…" button next to the directory box.

Step 4. Start to remove DRM from your AAX audiobooks and convert AAX to MP3 Mac

When you are done with the above 3 steps, you are basically ready to start the DRM removal and conversion process. To start the conversion of AAX to MP3 Mac, just click on the “Convert” button at the bottom right corner of the interface.

That's how to convert AAX to MP3 Mac. After the whole process is finished, your AAX audiobooks will be converted to MP3 without DRM protection and you will be able to play them freely with other audio players or on other mobile devices as you like.

Part 3: How to Convert AAX to MP3 on Mac with TunePat Audiobook Converter?

To convert AAX audiobooks to MP3 on Mac, there is a program that you can use. It is called TunePat Audiobook Converter. This product is claimed to especially focus on the audiobook conversion with a high speed. Users can retain the ID3 tags along with chapters in the AAX files. Together with MP3 output, you can also choose from M4A and M4B formats as the resulting containers. However, the software is not equipped with the ability to transcode DRM-restricted videos and other music data. There are not too many extensions.

There is another tutorial to convert AAX to MP3 Mac if you are looking for a straightforward path.

Step 1: Download and install TunePat Any Audiobook Converter on Mac. Run this tool to add source AAX files by clicking the “Add files”.

Step 2: Set up the file path and formats. Tap the gear icon at the upper right corner to open a setting panel where you can personalize the format, quality, and output folder. Assign the MP3 to the final output.

Step 3: Begin to convert AAX to MP3 Mac. Once you are ready, hit the “Convert” button.

Part 4: How to Convert AAX to MP3 Online Free?

As some users may prefer adopting a method to convert AAX to MP3 online, it is also accessible to accomplish this idea. Here we are going to introduce an online server named Aconvert. This website is an extensional page for a PDF converter site. The main function is to convert different kinds of files online, including AAX ebook format. Currently, it is boosted by 29 servers on Windows and Linux systems. Since it is a free program, there are some shortcomings you want to in advance. The upload file size is limited to 40M at the maximum. And there are not many configurations you could reach.

If you need to learn how to convert AAX to MP3 online free, follow this instruction.

  1. Open the browser and direct the address to Aconvert website.
  2. Click the “Add Files” to import AAX files. An alternative operation is to drag and drop the files. Choose an output format for the “Target” option where you can select formats from the drop-down menu. At last, hit the “Convert Now” button to initiate.
  3. Check the results from the below section after you activate to convert AAX to MP3 online.

Part 5: Comparison of Top 3 AAX to MP3 Mac Converters

Maybe a large group of users would face the difficulty of what to select as an optimal choice. Here is a comparison table that may help.

Features Leawo Prof. DRM TunePat Audiobook Converter Aconvert
System Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Windows, Mac
DRM Removal Professional Not available Not available
AAX to MP3
Quality Lossless Lossless High
Conversion Speed 50X higher 50X higher Medium
iTunes Converter Not available Not available
Audiobook Conversion
AC3 Dolby 5.1 Not available Not available
Video Converter Not available Not available
eBook Converter Not available
Settable Parameters Not available
File size Unlimited Unlimited 40MB

Apparently, the first product has more functionalities than others. Especially, compared to the paid software in the middle, users are given wider usage from Leawo Prof. DRM. Meanwhile, you cannot make as many modifications as you like while using the TunePat converter. Although you can convert AAX to MP3 online free, there could be potential risks downloading files from the internet regardless of the size restriction.

Overall, Leawo Prof. DRM would be the smartest option for all-purpose utility.