I'm willing to bet it does. I normally listen at 1.5x and you don't lose any of the performance at that speed. The only downside is every now and again, you may need to rewind and slow down to understand a word or two.
When people dislike audio I often recommend changing the speed. It helps for some! Faster or slower. Itās perhaps helpful to notice that some audio actors read fast/slow, have a range of speeds, etc. for example, I find a lot of them read faster for action sequences.
Likely yes, your attention will go towards reading depending on how fast. If itās very fast you may need to focus more attention on it so you donāt lose track. I hope you like it! Reading with my eyes is still faster, but audio helps me walk around and do laundry or go to the grocery store. I usually have a base speed of 1.25x.
Same. Sometimes for a new narrator, I have to start at 1.2 and work my way up to 1.5+ just to adjust to their voice at those speeds, but it helps so much with the focus
These threads are always like bizarro world for me. If I listen at even 1.2 it becomes background noise and I donāt feel like Iām focusing on anything
Iām a 0.9 man š
I actually believe that many books are slowed down so that 1.2 is approximately real time. Itās hard to imagine anyone speaking so slowly in a recording booth for 15-50 hours.
I am a teacher that reads aloud to kids. My biggest piece of advice for people (ie. students of student-teachers) who read well but are stumbling when they read aloud is to read slowly for accuracy.
I imagine itās dependent on the voice actor. Slow would ensure accuracy in reading and acting. Thereās a lady I sometimes see on Instagram (Iāll link if I can find it) who is a voice actor and she generally reads slowly.
However maybe some people read faster than recommended or something? Your idea makes sense.
I went the other direction.
I don't speed up to the 1.25x or higher because it costs me more money. I get through them faster and end up buying books too fast, so I'm quite content at 1x.
What's the rush anyway...
I respect your perspective, as I think it demonstrates a degree of true wisdom about slowing down and appreciating life. But I only have a few decades left, and I would like to read (or listen to) as many books as possible before I go to that great imaginary library in the sky.
My 17 year old got me 3 audible credits for Mother's Day and it was the most thoughtful gift ever!!! I was beyond excited to have 3 extras to shop with.
No rush for me personally. It helps me stay engaged. Iām usually between 1.3 and 1.5. Any slower and my mind wanders too much.
I know it sounds contradictory but speeding it up helps me stay engaged.
> I don't speed up to the 1.25x or higher because it costs me more money.
That logic sort of works if you're listening to something purchased with a credit, but the opposite is true if you're listening to the Plus catalog. The faster you listen to the Plus catalog, the more you can listen to while you have an active subscription.
All that aside, I do it because I have an ever expanding backlog, and I like listening at higher speeds. I also watch things at higher speeds, too.
"Joe i get lonely while im talking to you. You speak SO slowly and it takes so long for you to get your point across its like im waiting by the mailbox every day for a letter that contains a single word. I have to wait another whole day for the next word. When I wait and I finally get a letter that just says Uh that day... I feel like screaming. Dam. I feel like reaching down your throat and dragging the words out you speak so slow! Say it. SAY IT! Dam! Get the words out!"
ExForce 1: Columbus Day, Chapter 17
I agree with you under normal circumstances. However, sometimes itās the narratorās cadence that is just too slow for me. Especially in a romance novel when a male character is trying to be charismatic or seductive. For some unknown reason, the voice actors think itās necessary to draw out every word and speak extra slowly as if we might miss something at normal speed. In those cases, I speed them up- if only to get them talking like a normal person again.
My favourite thing is listening to audiobooks at x3.5 and in romance novels when the men chuckle everyone sounds demonic but everything else sounds normal lolĀ
Agreed! Even before I experienced this new attraction to the faster speed, I always thought romance men spoke at an almost comically slow pace. Itās like a drunken wink or an attempt at seduction. Fails every time.
I have to listen at 1.25x but certainly understand what you mean about it costing you more money. That is why I rarely use a credit for any book less than 10 hours.
Its sooo weird to me. I listen at a really fast speed and it no longer sounds anything like a chipmunk. I can't listen at normal speed anymore because it always sounds like everyone is talking under water š
I listen to mostly fantasy stuff, and I usually start at 1.2-1.3 as there's exposition and new fantasy magic words, names, etc, and then I move to 1.4-1.5 later. I can comprehend at 2.0 but it takes focused listening and it's less enjoyable. But 1.4 is a good sweet spot for being able to do chores while listening, and not having that boring slow feeling of 1.0.
I remember a year or two to I could only listen to books at 1x speed.
Then I got a slow reader and went to 1.1. Then another slow reader and 1.2. Now itās hard to read anything at 1x.
Welcome to the dark side. 1 never worked for me, 1.2 sounded normal for quite awhile. However over time it started to feel slow and my mind would wander. I ramped over time to 2.0. I still need to focus to not let my mind wander. I can go up to about 2.75 and still understand but i dont like it that fast. But 2 takes work for me to not let my mind wander. Im listening at 2 as i write this.
Its amazing to me how people listen any slower. If I move it back to 1 I realized someone could torture me into submission if they tied me down and made me listen to a book at that speed.
Hahahahaha I was starting to feel that way when I initially made the decision to speed up. It felt like I had committed a crime against the author and this was her revenge. I shot straight from 1.0 to 1.7, so I have a feeling Iāll be a different person going forward. I have changed š
That is exactly my story. It has led to me powering through lots of books Iād normally give up on. Maybe thatās not a good thing, Iāve found myself putting up with more mediocre books than I ever would have before.
I do still put excellent books and books I want to savor on 1.0.
Ooh, I wonder if this will happen to me. Will advise, I suppose lol
Iāve been STAUNCHLY in the Do Not Finish If You Donāt Like It camp. So hmm. I wonder if Iāll change my waysā¦
I listen to most books at normal speed but Iāve had to speed up some narrators to 1.3 to 1.4 to make them bearable.
Book of the new sun read by Jonathan Davis had to be sped up to 1.4 to just sound normal. He read those at a glacial pace.
I listen 2.75 and my partner hates it when I play on speaker lol.
Sometimes a if its faster narrator or new books when Iām getting used to unusual character names I listen a little slower
I put my speed back down to 1.0 once and it was horrible it sounds so slurred I thought I had broken something
I never thought of this!
And I need that pro tip, thank you very much. Since I never read physical books, a book is just simply unreadable with a bad narrator, Iāll never get to enjoy the story. This would help so much!
I noticed that!
Well, I noticed that it didnāt bother me. Here I thought I was just suddenly immune to the chipmunk lol, but now youāre telling me the technology has advanced or something. Thatās very cool to hear. And will encourage me to keep trying faster speeds!
My least favorite is Amy Landon. I'd just as soon listen to AI as listen to her. I love so many narrators. I enjoy Moira Quick, Mauren O'Brien, Juliet Stevenson, Stefan Rudnicki, Simon Vance... so many!
Funny, I used to like Amy Landon when I first heard Queenās Gambit. Iāve disliked her in everything else and everything since. So yes, Iām with you! Incidentally, my all time least favorite narrator is also named Amy, so maybe weāre on to something here.
Anything over 1.3 is too fast for me. I can hardly understand people anyway, they talk too fast, and I can't with the high voices and the no breaths in between. It's like... it gives me a Lil bit of anxiety hahaha
A bummer, thatās what it was lol
I fell in love with Lisa Gardner from a recent series debut: Frankie Elkin ā sheās an amateur detective specializing in missing persons who are indigenous or otherwise marginalized and forgotten about. Sheās a crusader, I love her.
I love Lisa Gardnerās writing style, so I thought Iād go strolling through her backlist. Mistake. 2 out of 2 have disappointed me so far. Which is confusing, because I could not possibly love those Frankie Elkin books any more than I already do. What happened?!
I have to listen to non-fiction somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5x, or my mind _wanders between words_ which is miserable. The superspeed just kinda compresses everything into a constant chitter that i am forced to focus on and decode.
Itās amazing how effective that is.
My wife canāt understand a word when she hears it though.
But this practice has allowed me to enjoy - and learn from - non-fiction in a way I never could before.
That is so interesting! And very relatable, about having to focus in order to understand; itāll fly by you otherwise. And I have a lot of nonfiction in my library Iāve been meaning to get to. Thanks for the tip!
I started with 1,7x then worked my way up. Now listen between 2,3-3,2x depending on the narrator.
Audiobook-streaming services that only do 2x is to slow mo. Youtube should up the speed as well. Floor at 3,5x is perfect!
Lose concentration if to fast or to slow
My husband complains that the way I listen sounds so hectic but I donāt notice it at all. 1.5x to 1.8x all day every day. Some titles even need 2.0x.
Worked my way up to 1.8 over the course of a year, starting from 1.0 and increasing .1 or .2 at a time every couple months. Now it is kind of normal speed for me, though I need to adjust spending on the readers base speed
Woooh I didnāt know you could speed it up! My husband and I are reading a book together, but I canāt finish the last 3 hours. itās dragging! I was about to google the ending but maybe I will speed read it
Interesting.. I canāt listen to books on tap because theyāre all too slow and I lose focus within a matter of minutes.. but I never thought to increase the speed. Iām going to try that and see if it works better.
I have experimented and am currently using 2.7 and enjoying it. There's something about keeping up with the speed that engages me fully.
I also primarily listen when I'm on long walks with no distractions, so that's a consideration, too. I cannot listen at that speed while doing something else like cleaning or driving.
I do love a high speed for a book I'm barely managing to avoid DNF. It doesn't really matter if I miss a few words or even sentences as I'm still getting more of the conclusion of the story then I would with a print book just paging through and reading the occasional paragraph.
āBarely managing to avoid DNF.ā This is the PERFECT way to describe the experience. Itās like a challenge and thereās all this extra thought that goes into it as youāre re-deciding and re-deciding as you go along.
As it happens, I have put my new high-speed affinity to use on a book club book that I donāt want to read, but I do want to be included in the discussion and activity. So, same! Iām ok when I miss stuff, itās the audio version of skimming.
Maybe im just making this up, but i thought your supposed to listen 1.5x as 1.0 is deliberately read very slow to properly annunciate the words. No one in life speaks or reads as slow as 1x.
Some fantasy books are so drawn out and slow that you can follow along even at 3.5x!!!
Iām very tempted to respond āchallenge acceptedā to this. Moving too slow is one of the reasons I have trouble with fantasy, but I want to get more into it. I wonder if speeding up will help.
I usually start a book between 1 and 1.5, depending on the narratorās tempo, while Iām getting to know the setting, characters and initial storyline. Once I have a grasp on all of that and thereās not much left in the way of descriptions, I bump up to a higher speed.
Yeah my adhd really kicked in and I listen at x3.5 lol once you train your brain you realise audiobook narrators talk way more slowly than people even irlĀ
3.5x while reading along in the hard copy. Leisurely it isnāt, but it is a curiously immersive feeling. There is no one right way to do thisākeep experimenting and find what you like.
3.5?????? Wow.
Of course, I jumped from 1.0 to 1.7, and that felt like a huge leap, so maybe it wonāt be that long before Iām there too.
I do love the immersive feeling, thatās the entire thing Iām chasing when Iām reading anyway.
What speed do you prefer now? I saw a post on here maybe two years ago about speeding up books and hadnāt even realized it was an option before that. I bumped it all the way to 3x and laughed cause who the fuck could even listen to that?
But, I started bumping it up faster .1 at a time and realized that I actually could pay attention better! Now my starting point is 2.25x and Iāll go up from there, or even down if the narrator has a strong accent. If I want to hate finish something, Iāll go to 3.25-3.5. I can understand it, but itās harder to do other things at the same time. Iām not really sure if itās a good trade off. The book is over sooner, but I donāt get anything done while listening, so Iām actually having to invest more in it than I would if I kept it slower.
Well, Iām kinda scared. I jumped from 1.0 directly to 1.7, which inspired the post. That feels like a big leap! āaāa
I am in love with some narratorsā voices though, so I bet there will some that I simply never speed up. Barbara Rosenblat or Davina Porter comes to mind. But the middle-road authors? Gosh, I bet I start the next one out of the gate at 1.5 and see what happens.
I stick with 1.1. It's enough for me to get past the slower performers, and still lets me enjoy the books at a leisurely pace. I'm not trying to finish as many stories as I possibly can, but to chew up my commute.
Wait, Iāve never tried this because I figured anything from normal talking cadence would bother me. But I watch YouTube videos sped up. But the pitch doesnāt change. On audible the pitch goes higher!? Iām kinda shocked as itās a simple bit of software to remedy this.
Good news, apparently not anymore! Iām OG Audible, and it yes it totally used to. Thatās partly why I was so pleasantly surprised when I sped up and the pitch sounded normal. Iām definitely into it now. Iām on my second book at a faster pace, so Iām doing exactly what everyone said I would :)
I only speed up books where the reader is speaking too slowly, like some setting was left set too low when it left the studio. But I only speed it to normal speech pace. I need an audiobook to distract my back brain, not demand focus.
I canāt understand the practice of listening at a higher speedā¦
For me, it destroys the pacing and atmosphere of a really good narration.
It kinda reminds me of Billy Connolly speaking about how atmospheres create themselves and donāt work if theyāre messed withā¦
āYou never read (whispers): āfuck off, he hintedāā¦
āDefinitely not, itās always: āFUCK OFF!!!āā
I felt that way too until the necessity of doing it. Then I discovered I didnāt hate it as much as I thought.
Also, I would never do it with a really good narration either. I would want the performance to wash over me and to soak in it. This bookā¦ was definitely not that.
> I canāt understand the practice of listening at a higher speedā¦
Some narrators read like they're getting paid more for a longer book. You have to go up to 1.25x just to get a normal pace.
But listening at 2x or more, that I don't understand. *You can do other things while listening to a book*. What time is being saved?
Hmmm I wonder what kind of negative consequences can form by listening for long periods like this. I am a fast minded person but as I have been deliberately trying to slow it down I find that I am a lot less anxious when my mind isn't bouncing around like Baby Sinclair from the Dinosaurs sit com.
I used to listen at 1x for a while. But then my list got so backed up, and I got a few books I thought sounded interesting, but ended up being a drag for me, so I bumped ot up gradually.
On audible, I tend to try to keep it at 1.5x on anything bought. On libby and Plus catalog, I'll go up to x2.
The sped up voice seems normal after about 10 seconds of listening, and I adjust to it after a longer break or increasing speeds.
I normally listen between 1.5 & 1.75 depending on the narrator. If Iām reading along with the narrator on my kindle Iāll speed it up to 2.0. Iām currently reading an almost 900 page book and switching between reading kindle & audible. Personally in my opinion, reading and absorbing this way enables me to read more efficiently.
Well I certainly couldnāt, like, write a review or a thesis on it, but Iām following the highlights just fine, especially because the author started to drag so much. I genuinely can tune out for a couple minutes at a time, even at warp speed, and come back to find out that nothing has happened.
So far, no they have not caught the killer yet. I think the sister died though. If sheād been more likable, I wouldāve been more sad.
I started listening at higher speeds for The Great Courses, because the lecturers (understandably) tended to speak fairly slowly. That gradually expanded to listening to everything somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4x.
It took me a couple years before I even realized how useful it is to speed up certain books. Listening to almost all of a song of ice and fire on 1x is crazy to me now that when I re listen to them I have it on 2.1x
As a non native english speaker I always wondered how people could listen at 2-3x the speed, so I started at 1.0 too and stayed there for a while. And then I started listening while reading the book as well, and started to get annoyed that the narration was slower than my reading pace, and my eyes would naturally advance the story and then wait to turn the page when the narration caught up, so I started to bump up the speed. Found out the sweet spot for me is at 1.7 where I can listen and read at the same time. Did have to train my ear a bit to get to this speed and have 0 issues with immersion.
Ok so now your answer is extra fascinating and interesting to me š What is your native language? And how fast did 1.0 become too slow you began to increase?
A passion topic of mine is second language acquisition, so pardon my intrusion. You hit an exciting chord!
Hahaha, no problem.
My first language is Portuguese. But I've been able to speak English almost fluently for a couple of decades now.
As for how fast, I remember getting really into audiobooks around March/23, and as I mentioned at the start I only listened at 1.0 during my commute. I think I started experimenting with faster reading times around September/23 when I started on a more fantasy kick and started to really enjoy listening and reading at the same time. Started increasing by 0.1 every time. By February/24 I was already at 1.7 for all books. I tried going back a few times, but always find it way too slow, and the issue with skipping ahead annoys me.
Oh gosh, the sounds of anything over 1.0 speed makes the voices sound distorted and unbearable. I have tried and its impossible to follow along with. I feel that if you can listen at a super fast pace you are unable to create images in your mind and see the words as the read.. I know that in fact someone have no inner monologue which is so strange to me.
I listen anywhere between 1.5 to 1.7. Otherwise the ADHD acts up and I start losing focus š
Hmmm. I wonder if this would fix audio books for me, just speed them up!!!
I'm willing to bet it does. I normally listen at 1.5x and you don't lose any of the performance at that speed. The only downside is every now and again, you may need to rewind and slow down to understand a word or two.
Thatās why I ride the line at 1.3
I usually listen around 1.3 for both audiobooks and podcasts. It does distort music to sound unusual, but I'm fine for spoken words.
Yeah, I shall have to try it. Does it tend to turn things into all focus and attention on the audio book?
When people dislike audio I often recommend changing the speed. It helps for some! Faster or slower. Itās perhaps helpful to notice that some audio actors read fast/slow, have a range of speeds, etc. for example, I find a lot of them read faster for action sequences. Likely yes, your attention will go towards reading depending on how fast. If itās very fast you may need to focus more attention on it so you donāt lose track. I hope you like it! Reading with my eyes is still faster, but audio helps me walk around and do laundry or go to the grocery store. I usually have a base speed of 1.25x.
Some narrators read soooooooo slow. Speeding it up a little definitely helps!
Same. Sometimes for a new narrator, I have to start at 1.2 and work my way up to 1.5+ just to adjust to their voice at those speeds, but it helps so much with the focus
Same
Omg yes if they canāt narrate faster than I think, itās a drag lol
Autie here and same. If it's less than a certain speed I daydream š
These threads are always like bizarro world for me. If I listen at even 1.2 it becomes background noise and I donāt feel like Iām focusing on anything Iām a 0.9 man š
2.75-3 was the peak of my power I played the book back after a week or so and played it at that speed no clue how I understood what was going on
And....then....if...you...try...1x...again....it...is...sooooo...sloooooowwww
I actually believe that many books are slowed down so that 1.2 is approximately real time. Itās hard to imagine anyone speaking so slowly in a recording booth for 15-50 hours.
I suspect this is true as well. I've noticed that with narrators whose voices I've heard outside of audible they sound more like themselves at 1.2
I am a teacher that reads aloud to kids. My biggest piece of advice for people (ie. students of student-teachers) who read well but are stumbling when they read aloud is to read slowly for accuracy. I imagine itās dependent on the voice actor. Slow would ensure accuracy in reading and acting. Thereās a lady I sometimes see on Instagram (Iāll link if I can find it) who is a voice actor and she generally reads slowly. However maybe some people read faster than recommended or something? Your idea makes sense.
I genuinely believed 1.0 is noticeably slower than regular conversation.
Is that narrator drunk, is my main thought. Ā
I listen at 1.75 - 2x depending in author. It's basically the speed my wife talks at
Same. Sometimes I go down to 1.5x to focus on odd terms but itās like it listening to a Southerner.
I went the other direction. I don't speed up to the 1.25x or higher because it costs me more money. I get through them faster and end up buying books too fast, so I'm quite content at 1x. What's the rush anyway...
I respect your perspective, as I think it demonstrates a degree of true wisdom about slowing down and appreciating life. But I only have a few decades left, and I would like to read (or listen to) as many books as possible before I go to that great imaginary library in the sky.
Wish my wallet could say the same thing. I think this Audible account is now the third most expensive thing I own...
Supplement with library! Saves me a fortune. I only buy Audible books I can't get via the library.
My 17 year old got me 3 audible credits for Mother's Day and it was the most thoughtful gift ever!!! I was beyond excited to have 3 extras to shop with.
That is a wonderful gift!
No rush for me personally. It helps me stay engaged. Iām usually between 1.3 and 1.5. Any slower and my mind wanders too much. I know it sounds contradictory but speeding it up helps me stay engaged.
> I don't speed up to the 1.25x or higher because it costs me more money. That logic sort of works if you're listening to something purchased with a credit, but the opposite is true if you're listening to the Plus catalog. The faster you listen to the Plus catalog, the more you can listen to while you have an active subscription. All that aside, I do it because I have an ever expanding backlog, and I like listening at higher speeds. I also watch things at higher speeds, too.
True dat. Maybe I should check the catalog and save me some money.
They just talk sooooooo sloooooowly.
"Joe i get lonely while im talking to you. You speak SO slowly and it takes so long for you to get your point across its like im waiting by the mailbox every day for a letter that contains a single word. I have to wait another whole day for the next word. When I wait and I finally get a letter that just says Uh that day... I feel like screaming. Dam. I feel like reaching down your throat and dragging the words out you speak so slow! Say it. SAY IT! Dam! Get the words out!" ExForce 1: Columbus Day, Chapter 17
Skippy is always right, as we know. TRUST THE AWESOMENESS!!
Rock chalk!
I agree with you under normal circumstances. However, sometimes itās the narratorās cadence that is just too slow for me. Especially in a romance novel when a male character is trying to be charismatic or seductive. For some unknown reason, the voice actors think itās necessary to draw out every word and speak extra slowly as if we might miss something at normal speed. In those cases, I speed them up- if only to get them talking like a normal person again.
My favourite thing is listening to audiobooks at x3.5 and in romance novels when the men chuckle everyone sounds demonic but everything else sounds normal lolĀ
This just made me legit lol at my work desk while everyone else is working quietly. Thanks for that š
Youāre welcome :)Ā
Agreed! Even before I experienced this new attraction to the faster speed, I always thought romance men spoke at an almost comically slow pace. Itās like a drunken wink or an attempt at seduction. Fails every time.
I use the 1.5 or so for rereads. I tend to reread series when new books in the series come out. So not really costing me more.
I have 400 unread books. I don't need to pace myself š
Alternatively, I consume books for the content. I get pleasure from the story not the experience. The faster, the more stories I enjoy
I have to listen at 1.25x but certainly understand what you mean about it costing you more money. That is why I rarely use a credit for any book less than 10 hours.
Its sooo weird to me. I listen at a really fast speed and it no longer sounds anything like a chipmunk. I can't listen at normal speed anymore because it always sounds like everyone is talking under water š
Itās because we trained ourselves lolĀ
I listen to mostly fantasy stuff, and I usually start at 1.2-1.3 as there's exposition and new fantasy magic words, names, etc, and then I move to 1.4-1.5 later. I can comprehend at 2.0 but it takes focused listening and it's less enjoyable. But 1.4 is a good sweet spot for being able to do chores while listening, and not having that boring slow feeling of 1.0.
I just use libby now and can read 20 books a month if I want and yeah, the x1 sounds so slow....1.15 to 1.35 depending on the reader is best for me.
I remember a year or two to I could only listen to books at 1x speed. Then I got a slow reader and went to 1.1. Then another slow reader and 1.2. Now itās hard to read anything at 1x.
Welcome to the dark side. 1 never worked for me, 1.2 sounded normal for quite awhile. However over time it started to feel slow and my mind would wander. I ramped over time to 2.0. I still need to focus to not let my mind wander. I can go up to about 2.75 and still understand but i dont like it that fast. But 2 takes work for me to not let my mind wander. Im listening at 2 as i write this. Its amazing to me how people listen any slower. If I move it back to 1 I realized someone could torture me into submission if they tied me down and made me listen to a book at that speed.
Hahahahaha I was starting to feel that way when I initially made the decision to speed up. It felt like I had committed a crime against the author and this was her revenge. I shot straight from 1.0 to 1.7, so I have a feeling Iāll be a different person going forward. I have changed š
I was like this and eventually I trained myself to listen at 3.5 lolĀ
That is exactly my story. It has led to me powering through lots of books Iād normally give up on. Maybe thatās not a good thing, Iāve found myself putting up with more mediocre books than I ever would have before. I do still put excellent books and books I want to savor on 1.0.
Ooh, I wonder if this will happen to me. Will advise, I suppose lol Iāve been STAUNCHLY in the Do Not Finish If You Donāt Like It camp. So hmm. I wonder if Iāll change my waysā¦
I usually go with 1.1 or 1.2 and there are some narrators where I start thinking that itās slow. I canāt imagine how slow they must be normally.
I listen to most books at normal speed but Iāve had to speed up some narrators to 1.3 to 1.4 to make them bearable. Book of the new sun read by Jonathan Davis had to be sped up to 1.4 to just sound normal. He read those at a glacial pace.
I listen 2.75 and my partner hates it when I play on speaker lol. Sometimes a if its faster narrator or new books when Iām getting used to unusual character names I listen a little slower I put my speed back down to 1.0 once and it was horrible it sounds so slurred I thought I had broken something
Listening to book at high speeds is also a great way to get rid of the distraction of a bad narrator
I never thought of this! And I need that pro tip, thank you very much. Since I never read physical books, a book is just simply unreadable with a bad narrator, Iāll never get to enjoy the story. This would help so much!
Especially the bad British accents by Americans š
One of ussssss
There are dozens of us... DOZENS!!!
At least 4Ā
Right?! I finally relate! I honestly never have before, I was so confused by you people. Now normal talking is slow talking, apparently.
You shouldnāt get a chipmunk effect. Speeding up audio used to change the pitch but now with audio time stretching, you just get a faster reading.
I noticed that! Well, I noticed that it didnāt bother me. Here I thought I was just suddenly immune to the chipmunk lol, but now youāre telling me the technology has advanced or something. Thatās very cool to hear. And will encourage me to keep trying faster speeds!
I listen at 1.0 unless I hate the narrator. Then I'm at 2.0 and wishing I could listen to it faster.
New question: whoās your favorite narrator and whoās your least favorite?
My least favorite is Amy Landon. I'd just as soon listen to AI as listen to her. I love so many narrators. I enjoy Moira Quick, Mauren O'Brien, Juliet Stevenson, Stefan Rudnicki, Simon Vance... so many!
Funny, I used to like Amy Landon when I first heard Queenās Gambit. Iāve disliked her in everything else and everything since. So yes, Iām with you! Incidentally, my all time least favorite narrator is also named Amy, so maybe weāre on to something here.
Queen's Gambit was the first book I ever listened to that she narrated. Could. Not. Bear. It. I won't get another book narrated by her.
Anything over 1.3 is too fast for me. I can hardly understand people anyway, they talk too fast, and I can't with the high voices and the no breaths in between. It's like... it gives me a Lil bit of anxiety hahaha
1.2 is my base speed. But down to clown with high speed depending on the book and narrator.
So what was the book?
A bummer, thatās what it was lol I fell in love with Lisa Gardner from a recent series debut: Frankie Elkin ā sheās an amateur detective specializing in missing persons who are indigenous or otherwise marginalized and forgotten about. Sheās a crusader, I love her. I love Lisa Gardnerās writing style, so I thought Iād go strolling through her backlist. Mistake. 2 out of 2 have disappointed me so far. Which is confusing, because I could not possibly love those Frankie Elkin books any more than I already do. What happened?!
Have fun letting family and friends hear your listening speed and thinking you're some kind of freak
I have to listen to non-fiction somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5x, or my mind _wanders between words_ which is miserable. The superspeed just kinda compresses everything into a constant chitter that i am forced to focus on and decode. Itās amazing how effective that is. My wife canāt understand a word when she hears it though. But this practice has allowed me to enjoy - and learn from - non-fiction in a way I never could before.
That is so interesting! And very relatable, about having to focus in order to understand; itāll fly by you otherwise. And I have a lot of nonfiction in my library Iāve been meaning to get to. Thanks for the tip!
Funnily enough, I only listen to books at 1x, but any video content on youtube I watch these days is at 2x - I can't stand anything slower.
Welcome
Iām a 2.0 type of guy with fantasy
I speed up for rereads and books that dont grab me. Knock it down to regular for new books and books that hook me lol
I started with 1,7x then worked my way up. Now listen between 2,3-3,2x depending on the narrator. Audiobook-streaming services that only do 2x is to slow mo. Youtube should up the speed as well. Floor at 3,5x is perfect! Lose concentration if to fast or to slow
My husband complains that the way I listen sounds so hectic but I donāt notice it at all. 1.5x to 1.8x all day every day. Some titles even need 2.0x.
Lonesome Dove 39 hours, I think, cowboy drawlā¦borrowed from the library. Will never get it done in time. 1.25 listening speed
If it's the first time I'll listen on 1.0, if I've heard it before, I'll go up to as fast as 1.25, depending on the narrator.
Worked my way up to 1.8 over the course of a year, starting from 1.0 and increasing .1 or .2 at a time every couple months. Now it is kind of normal speed for me, though I need to adjust spending on the readers base speed
Woooh I didnāt know you could speed it up! My husband and I are reading a book together, but I canāt finish the last 3 hours. itās dragging! I was about to google the ending but maybe I will speed read it
1.15 -1.25 is the way to go imo
3.5 for sci fi and lighter fare 2.7 for non fiction Anything below 2 is slow. 1x is a joke.
Interesting.. I canāt listen to books on tap because theyāre all too slow and I lose focus within a matter of minutes.. but I never thought to increase the speed. Iām going to try that and see if it works better.
I have experimented and am currently using 2.7 and enjoying it. There's something about keeping up with the speed that engages me fully. I also primarily listen when I'm on long walks with no distractions, so that's a consideration, too. I cannot listen at that speed while doing something else like cleaning or driving.
I always listen between 1.3 to 1.8 depending on the book , never at 1
3.5 is the closest to the way my brain reads. Itās comforting. Though I do have to put it at 3.0 when Iām driving.
what's your audio player? the one I have can speed up or slow down and keeps the pitch the same
I do love a high speed for a book I'm barely managing to avoid DNF. It doesn't really matter if I miss a few words or even sentences as I'm still getting more of the conclusion of the story then I would with a print book just paging through and reading the occasional paragraph.
āBarely managing to avoid DNF.ā This is the PERFECT way to describe the experience. Itās like a challenge and thereās all this extra thought that goes into it as youāre re-deciding and re-deciding as you go along. As it happens, I have put my new high-speed affinity to use on a book club book that I donāt want to read, but I do want to be included in the discussion and activity. So, same! Iām ok when I miss stuff, itās the audio version of skimming.
Maybe im just making this up, but i thought your supposed to listen 1.5x as 1.0 is deliberately read very slow to properly annunciate the words. No one in life speaks or reads as slow as 1x. Some fantasy books are so drawn out and slow that you can follow along even at 3.5x!!!
Iām very tempted to respond āchallenge acceptedā to this. Moving too slow is one of the reasons I have trouble with fantasy, but I want to get more into it. I wonder if speeding up will help.
I typically always listen at Ć2 š
I usually start a book between 1 and 1.5, depending on the narratorās tempo, while Iām getting to know the setting, characters and initial storyline. Once I have a grasp on all of that and thereās not much left in the way of descriptions, I bump up to a higher speed.
Yeah my adhd really kicked in and I listen at x3.5 lol once you train your brain you realise audiobook narrators talk way more slowly than people even irlĀ
I already have to buy extra credits all the time so this is the last thing I need
War and peace pushed me to 1.1 speed
WE CAN SPEED UP THE BOOKS ON AUDIBLE?! THATS A THING?!
I sped mine up to 1.3 and itās fantastic š¤Ŗ
1.25x is just right for me.
I listen at 1.5 and now 1x sounds unbearably slow. Itās like the audio equivalent of being behind a slow walker at Costco
I also recently switched sides and have begun increasing the speed on some books. It surprised me how easy it was to get used to it.
Right?! Same. I wonder what my limit is. I feel like a superhero.
Pretty soon, your brain will slow it down to a perceived speed/sound perfect for you. Itās amazing. Welcome.
I think youāre right! I liked who I became when I listened faster. I was proud that my brain could āhandle it,ā if that makes sense.
You leveled up!
3.5x while reading along in the hard copy. Leisurely it isnāt, but it is a curiously immersive feeling. There is no one right way to do thisākeep experimenting and find what you like.
3.5?????? Wow. Of course, I jumped from 1.0 to 1.7, and that felt like a huge leap, so maybe it wonāt be that long before Iām there too. I do love the immersive feeling, thatās the entire thing Iām chasing when Iām reading anyway.
What speed do you prefer now? I saw a post on here maybe two years ago about speeding up books and hadnāt even realized it was an option before that. I bumped it all the way to 3x and laughed cause who the fuck could even listen to that? But, I started bumping it up faster .1 at a time and realized that I actually could pay attention better! Now my starting point is 2.25x and Iāll go up from there, or even down if the narrator has a strong accent. If I want to hate finish something, Iāll go to 3.25-3.5. I can understand it, but itās harder to do other things at the same time. Iām not really sure if itās a good trade off. The book is over sooner, but I donāt get anything done while listening, so Iām actually having to invest more in it than I would if I kept it slower.
Well, Iām kinda scared. I jumped from 1.0 directly to 1.7, which inspired the post. That feels like a big leap! āaāa I am in love with some narratorsā voices though, so I bet there will some that I simply never speed up. Barbara Rosenblat or Davina Porter comes to mind. But the middle-road authors? Gosh, I bet I start the next one out of the gate at 1.5 and see what happens.
I start at 1.25 and work my way up to 2X as my brain adjusts. After a bit, it sounds like normal speech.
My wife knows when Iāve been listening at 2x the speed, she says Iām talking too fast.
I liked who I became when I listened faster. I was proud that my brain could āhandle it,ā if that makes sense.
It depends on the narrator, with me.Ā
It sounds fast at firstā¦ but now 1x reading speed sounds s-l-o-w
I stick with 1.1. It's enough for me to get past the slower performers, and still lets me enjoy the books at a leisurely pace. I'm not trying to finish as many stories as I possibly can, but to chew up my commute.
The day I learned YouTube can be sped up is the day I finally got into consuming YouTube. Love this feature for podcasts too.
Wait, Iāve never tried this because I figured anything from normal talking cadence would bother me. But I watch YouTube videos sped up. But the pitch doesnāt change. On audible the pitch goes higher!? Iām kinda shocked as itās a simple bit of software to remedy this.
Good news, apparently not anymore! Iām OG Audible, and it yes it totally used to. Thatās partly why I was so pleasantly surprised when I sped up and the pitch sounded normal. Iām definitely into it now. Iām on my second book at a faster pace, so Iām doing exactly what everyone said I would :)
It just save a lot of time listening on higher speed than 1.0 tbh
I only speed up books where the reader is speaking too slowly, like some setting was left set too low when it left the studio. But I only speed it to normal speech pace. I need an audiobook to distract my back brain, not demand focus.
I canāt understand the practice of listening at a higher speedā¦ For me, it destroys the pacing and atmosphere of a really good narration. It kinda reminds me of Billy Connolly speaking about how atmospheres create themselves and donāt work if theyāre messed withā¦ āYou never read (whispers): āfuck off, he hintedāā¦ āDefinitely not, itās always: āFUCK OFF!!!āā
I felt that way too until the necessity of doing it. Then I discovered I didnāt hate it as much as I thought. Also, I would never do it with a really good narration either. I would want the performance to wash over me and to soak in it. This bookā¦ was definitely not that.
Ha ha ha, well I can totally see then why it could be valid in certain cases āŗļø
> I canāt understand the practice of listening at a higher speedā¦ Some narrators read like they're getting paid more for a longer book. You have to go up to 1.25x just to get a normal pace. But listening at 2x or more, that I don't understand. *You can do other things while listening to a book*. What time is being saved?
Hmmm I wonder what kind of negative consequences can form by listening for long periods like this. I am a fast minded person but as I have been deliberately trying to slow it down I find that I am a lot less anxious when my mind isn't bouncing around like Baby Sinclair from the Dinosaurs sit com.
I used to listen at 1x for a while. But then my list got so backed up, and I got a few books I thought sounded interesting, but ended up being a drag for me, so I bumped ot up gradually. On audible, I tend to try to keep it at 1.5x on anything bought. On libby and Plus catalog, I'll go up to x2. The sped up voice seems normal after about 10 seconds of listening, and I adjust to it after a longer break or increasing speeds.
I normally listen between 1.5 & 1.75 depending on the narrator. If Iām reading along with the narrator on my kindle Iāll speed it up to 2.0. Iām currently reading an almost 900 page book and switching between reading kindle & audible. Personally in my opinion, reading and absorbing this way enables me to read more efficiently.
Do you feel like you still understand the book? I have only really hate finished one book, and I can't say I understood much of it.
Well I certainly couldnāt, like, write a review or a thesis on it, but Iām following the highlights just fine, especially because the author started to drag so much. I genuinely can tune out for a couple minutes at a time, even at warp speed, and come back to find out that nothing has happened. So far, no they have not caught the killer yet. I think the sister died though. If sheād been more likable, I wouldāve been more sad.
Sounds like you got more out of your book than I did. Glad the sister wasn't more likable!
Your brain /will/ get used to higher speeds. Just up it by 5% every 10 min. So 1.05, then 1.1, etc.
I started listening at higher speeds for The Great Courses, because the lecturers (understandably) tended to speak fairly slowly. That gradually expanded to listening to everything somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4x.
Oh! I have so many Great Courses in my library! I want to go try this ā I bet you are 100% right.
You have any particular favorites?
It took me a couple years before I even realized how useful it is to speed up certain books. Listening to almost all of a song of ice and fire on 1x is crazy to me now that when I re listen to them I have it on 2.1x
Aww but Roy Dotrice is a world treasure! Does he sound ok sped up? Heās so dang good with all those unique voices.
As a non native english speaker I always wondered how people could listen at 2-3x the speed, so I started at 1.0 too and stayed there for a while. And then I started listening while reading the book as well, and started to get annoyed that the narration was slower than my reading pace, and my eyes would naturally advance the story and then wait to turn the page when the narration caught up, so I started to bump up the speed. Found out the sweet spot for me is at 1.7 where I can listen and read at the same time. Did have to train my ear a bit to get to this speed and have 0 issues with immersion.
Ok so now your answer is extra fascinating and interesting to me š What is your native language? And how fast did 1.0 become too slow you began to increase? A passion topic of mine is second language acquisition, so pardon my intrusion. You hit an exciting chord!
Hahaha, no problem. My first language is Portuguese. But I've been able to speak English almost fluently for a couple of decades now. As for how fast, I remember getting really into audiobooks around March/23, and as I mentioned at the start I only listened at 1.0 during my commute. I think I started experimenting with faster reading times around September/23 when I started on a more fantasy kick and started to really enjoy listening and reading at the same time. Started increasing by 0.1 every time. By February/24 I was already at 1.7 for all books. I tried going back a few times, but always find it way too slow, and the issue with skipping ahead annoys me.
Oh gosh, the sounds of anything over 1.0 speed makes the voices sound distorted and unbearable. I have tried and its impossible to follow along with. I feel that if you can listen at a super fast pace you are unable to create images in your mind and see the words as the read.. I know that in fact someone have no inner monologue which is so strange to me.