Need recommendation for best mp3 player for listening to audiobooks

I’m looking for recommendations for the best mp3 player to use for listening to audiobooks (mp3 files). It is important that the player be able to automatically bookmark so that I can resume listening where I left off. I have been unable to get either of my two Sansa Clips to sequence the mp3 files correctly, despite correct tagging and using sequential filenames (e.g., 001.mp3, 002.mp3…011.mp3, etc. Neither Clip will play a merged mp3 file of any size (merged using MergeMP3), so that isn’t an option. These problems started in January of this year, but prior to that time, I had no problems. So after literally months of trying various remedies and reading hundreds of forum posts, I am giving up. Any recommendations for a new player for audiobooks would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe take a look at the discussion in this message stream about fixing the audiobook sequence for Clip Sport & Jam players.  Maybe these ideas will work for your Clip+ ??   

    https://forums.sandisk.com/t5/SanDisk-Clip-Sport/Audiobooks-do-not-show-up-properly/m-p/355309#M3090

I think the problems you are having are related to using 3-digit prefixes in filenames (and maybe 3-digit track numbers in the ID3 tags?).

I find that 2-digit prefixes in filenames and track numbers work well fo my Clip Sport & Jam. (Try 00-99, and not single digits).

DFELD2005, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. I grudgingly tried again and renamed the files in a test audiobook to use 2-digit filename, title, and track numbers, and the files now sequence correctly on the Clip. I had read literally hundreds of posts suggesting things to try to fix the sequencing problem on the Clip, but none of them suggested using a 2-digit filename. I think restricting my search to just Clip rather than Clip Sport or Clip Jam caused me to fail to see the post you linked me to.

My next question is how best to name and load the files if a book has more than 99 files. My test book has 131 MP3 files. In MP3Tag, I set the following tags:

Filename=01.mp3 through 99.mp3

Tag=ID3v2.3 (ID3v1 ID3v2.3)

Title=01 through 99

Artist=David Baldacci

Album Artist=david Baldacci

Album=The Fix

Track=01 through 99

Year=2017

Genre=Audiobook

I don’t think the Codec, Bitrate, Frequency, and Length tags are important here.

What should each of these tags be if I want to load all 131 files onto the Clip? If I divide the files into two parts, what is the naming and uploading process?

Thanks for the reply. I hope you are on your way to Sandisk Clip Happiness.

   Test this idea on a few files and see how the player responds.

For filenames (and Titles) 01 to 99, use Album title   The Fix-01

For filenames (and Titles) 100 to 131, use Album title   The Fix-02. 

    I think (?) you can keep the 3-digit numbering sequence for The Fix-02 (up to 199).

All of these files can reside in one subfolder (ex. The Fix) under Audiobooks.

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DFELD2005, you are freakin’ BRILLIANT! I tagged the files as you suggested and when uploaded to the Clip, they reside in two separate “folders”: The Fix-01 and The Fix-02. Within each folder, the MP3 files sequence correctly. Within the The Fix-02 folder, the files retaining the 3-digit numbering sequence are listed in the correct order.

You should write this to a pinned message in this forum (as well as any other Sansa forums involving file sequencing issues) so that people don’t have to read through hundreds of messages and never really solve the problem. You are my new hero.

Thanks for the acknowledgement. :smiley:  I really appreciate it. 

Maybe you can reply one more time about this suggestion?  

   I think all 131 audio files can reside in one subfolder (The Fix). Just make sure the “Album” titles (in the ID3 tags) refer to The Fix-01 (01-99) and The Fix-02 (100-131), as we discussed. 

Yep, I tagged just as you suggested and uploaded all files into the Audiobooks folder. Because I only load one book at a time, I have no need to put the individual mp3 files into a subfolder under the Audiobooks folder. Nevertheless, when viewing the contents of the Audiobooks folder on the Clip, there are two subfolders, The Fix 01 and The Fix 02. So the Clip uses the Album title tag to organize the files into subfolders all by itself. That works fine for me.

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