Audiobooks discussion

I am pretty much constantly listening to audiobooks on my iPod, thanks either to my brother's longstanding audible membership (6 years and counting!) or the local library (Audiobook Builder is a great little program to turn CDs into an MP3 file).

A few years ago I discovered the iPod has a setting that allows you to speed up playback of an audiobook by about 20 percent. It doesn't significantly alter the sound of the narration; rather, the spaces between words are shortened.

While this took some getting used to at first, now I find I have trouble listening to almost everything at normal speed (there are exceptions -- I have found some readers speak far too quickly and the faster setting becomes rather manic). This has been especially great for some of the slower-speaking narrators, particularly Roy Dotrice, who reads the very long A Song of Ice and Fire series. After hearing he took some getting used to as a reader, I liked him right away... on the faster setting. After sampling normal speed, I see why he's an acquired taste -- he talks super slowly, to the point where the sped-up version sounds "normal" to me!

The additional benefit, of course, is that you get through books faster, which is really nice for longer books - I'm currently listening to the 32-hour Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but will be done with it in just 26 or 27 hours.

Anyone else do this?

I use a Sansa View that I think has a speed adjustment also. I have not tested it but after reading this I will give it a try on a couple "Slow Narrators" tonight and post the results tomorrow.

I sometimes hit the "faster" icon by mistake on my iTouch but have to change it back immediately. I get dizzy and can't keep up as my brain can't work that fast!

Joel, can you review how to apply the "faster" setting to audiobooks on an iPod? I'd like to test it out.

while playing an audiobook, press and hold down the center button until a little menu pops up where you can select the speed. you can also adjust your settings in the playback menu but i always get lost in a maze of ipod menus when i try to do it that way.

I thought I had this option on my Sansa but could not find it so I guess I am out on this one.

I only listen to the "faster" setting on particularly tedious books - and then most often non-fiction or Patricia Cornwell. You know the kind of book I mean? - there have been audiobooks that I actually applauded when getting to the end of a CD or cassette.

I don't have an iPod, but the NetLibrary software allows you to listen to things sped up on your computer. I usually listen somewhere between 1.1x (10%) and 1.2x (20%) faster. I really love the feature, because I talk really fast, and it drives me crazy when narrators talk too slowly!

I use it when the book is less than stellar or extremely long. I have no problem with quick speakers, just takes acute concentration. However, some readers are so accomplished that I want to savor every nuance.

hello, I know this discussion hasn't been active in a while, but I was wondering if there's a way to get itunes to play podcasts/audiobooks faster. I've seen a lot of instructions on how to increase the playspeed on an iphone or ipod and how to play an mp3 in quicktime and speed it up that way, but I haven't found a setting that lets me increase the speed in itunes. Does anyone know if there is a way to do that and if so how? Thanks :)

not that i have found. it is really annoying for those times i have left my ipod in the car.

i have no idea why mac has not enabled this feature.

thanks anyways. I kept thinking I was somehow missing how to do it since there was all this stuff on how to adjust speed on your ipod/iphone.

Joel wrote: "I am pretty much constantly listening to audiobooks on my iPod, thanks either to my brother's longstanding audible membership (6 years and counting!) or the local library (Audiobook Builder is a gr..."

I know this is old, but I just found this through a google search. I have gotten used to listening to audiobooks at double speed. (Thanks, Audible!) and cannot hardly stand listening to normal speed anymore.
Here is a good tutorial for ripping cds and making the ipod "think" it's a podcast.

http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-12519_7-...

I listen at the faster playback speed for all audiobooks. I love getting done 20% faster. On podcasts I stick to regular speed, especially if there is more than one person speaking on it.

since starting this thread, i have discovered the audible android app, which allows me to listen at what they call "3x speed," but which actually works out to double speed if you time it. i have been using it to crank through books this year. it is great being able to finish a 30-hour book in 15 hours. thanks to a long-ish commute, i can finish two average-length books per week.

I strictly use the faster setting.
It depends mainly on the narrator style. I'm automatically using 1½x speed, but I was on 2x speed for a 20+ hour book with a slow reading narrator and loved it. Got the book done quickly, and understood it just fine in the end.

I listen to non-fiction on the faster speed but fiction is dependent upon the narrator. I feel narrators of these books take the effort to make them more of a production with voices and style. Speeding up those books makes me feel like I am disregarding their efforts and not appreciative of their craft.

Some books are so slow that even sped up they seem slow. I listen to anything not highly technical or not highly lyrical on the faster speed.

Never! I guess I have a slow brain. I often even have to rewind sections, particularly if my mind starts thinking about the portent of what is read to me!

Osho wrote: "Some books are so slow that even sped up they seem slow."

Oh, so you listened to Travels in Siberia, too! My funny story is that while speeding it up didn't do much for the author's s-l-o-w reading (it is a great book, by the way), I hadn't realize it would affect my player's ability to play movies, so at first I was horrified, thinking the video capability was broken!

I can listen to the faster speed on my Sansa, but not on the OverDrive on the PC...you can listen to it up to 3x speed on the PC, but it distorts the voice so much and makes it so choppy that it's nearly impossible to follow, even when the narrator is so slow that I would LOVE to listen to it on the fastest speed. Sometimes the fast setting on the Sansa is not fast enough. But I agree, it depends on the book. I, too, listen to Roy Dotrice on a faster speed, because he's too slow for me, even though he does a great job with making the character voices very distinct, unlike many narrators. This is not distorted by a faster speed, though, so it works ok.

I almost always listen to classics on the faster setting as well because many of them are very long and since I get a lot from Librivox, many of the narrators speak extra slowly, it seems. Usually, though, I have to listen for at least 30 minutes at the beginning to get used to the story and cadence of the narrator before I can switch to faster. If it's too complicated though or a faster narrator, I leave it alone.

It depends on the narrator for me or if I'm not into the story. For instance when Kirsten Potter is narrating, I keep switching to 1.5X or 2X without a problem (she's very deliberate) but right now I'm listening to Dracula (the latest Audible version) and I haven't felt like speeding it up.

The Kindle fire has a setting for speeding up the book. I just might try it for a slow paced book.

I couldn't listen to audiobooks without speeding up the narration. I use the audible android app on my phone for audible.com books and another android app called Smart Audiobook Player for my mp3 audiobooks.

I've found that with new narrators, I have to gradually increase the speed in small increments until I get adjusted to their voice. Once I reach a comfortable level, it sounds perfectly normal to me..... even though my husband thinks it sounds like a foreign language! LOL
The speed I prefer varies depending on the narrator...... usually somewhere between 1.25x to 2x. My listening time is limited to short periods of time, so it sometimes takes several days to reach the speed that works best for me.

Good to know, Laura. I'll check out that Smart Audiobook Player app. I like the Audible app.

I tend to speed audio books up if there is a scene I'm finding tedious, I suppose its a bit like scanning a page in a book that you find has repetitive descriptions or labours the point continuously.
I've tried listening to books I enjoy on faster speed but find its easy to miss details and usually end up rewinding.

There's one podcast I like where something happened at their end - now when I download it the folks sound like a roundtable featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks, so I need to listen in slow mode!

I was happy to find this thread as I knew I couldn't be the only one who has thoughts on this topic! I only discovered the audible app for Iphone back in around Oct or Nov 2012, before that I was strictly listening straight from my Itunes library on my Iphone or Ipod Touch. Now that I have discovered the Audible app I sure wish I did a long time ago, as I had been listening for maybe 2 years prior, I surely would have hit most of those achievement badges by now!

Anyway I am happy to hear I'm not the only one who has come to prefer the sped up narration. I too now feel "normal 1x speed" is just too darn slow! Well I guess it does depend on where/what I am doing. When I first begin the audio book, especially if it is a celebrity narrator [for instance just heard Tim Robbins doing Great Gatsby] I'll give it a listen at 1x speed maybe for a short bit. Then I'll pretty quickly speed it up to at least 1.5 very early on. When I am driving I'll probably keep it at 1.25/1.5 or when there are other outside distractions.

I also like to follow along my audio book with either Kindle app/Nook app text [on my Iphone!] or follow along with the actual paperback copy of the book. This way I am really immersed in the book fully, with the audio narration AND print in front of me. When I am reading text along with the audio, THAT is when I bump it up even as fast as 3x speed. Mostly because it simply does not bother me at all, it's done so well and not "chipmunky" or strange sounding at all! And as others have commented, the main motivation I have is that I am able to really fly through books. This helps for things like knocking off books in the Goodreads challenge or simply finally getting through my long list of things I want to read! Sometimes I think maybe if I speed it up it will "take away" from my enjoyment or grasping of the content. For instance I'm reading East of Eden and there is a feeling that I should be pacing it, not rushing this one, and savoring it. I do slow it down to 1.5 if I don't have the printed text in front but since I picked up the paperback from the bookstore today, I followed along with my audio at 3x speed for a good hour and didn't feel it took away from anything, and I was still getting a fine grasp of what I was reading even at that pace.

I always listen to audiobooks at a speed about 30% to 40% faster than normal. Speed-up and slow-down are very flexible with Rockbox, which I use with my Sansa Clip-Plus. The chipmunk effect can be avoided (unless you enjoy it) because the speed and pitch controls are independent. Just for information, Rockbox versions are available for free for many other mp3 players, too.

David wrote: "I always listen to audiobooks at a speed about 30% to 40% faster than normal. Speed-up and slow-down are very flexible with Rockbox, which I use with my Sansa Clip-Plus. The chipmunk effect can be ..."

That is very interesting. I'm off to check out Rockbox. Thank you.

ETA: I googled 'rockbox for sansa clip'. Got to rockbox dot org. There are words in English, but there are many more which are in tech-speak, in which I am not fluent.

Could you possibly list an outline of what ought to be done to make it possible to use this on a plain Clip or Clip+? Or a link to a page which is simple for non-techies? Thank you.

CatBookMom wrote: "David wrote: "I always listen to audiobooks at a speed about 30% to 40% faster than normal. Speed-up and slow-down are very flexible with Rockbox, which I use with my Sansa Clip-Plus. The chipmunk ..."

I too, could not figure out what I need to do in order
to get Rockbox on to my Sansa Clip-Plus. The site is not very intuitive for non-techies. I would love to listen at those faster speeds. Any additional insight will be much appreciated.

Update...I think I have it installed but the menu choices look the same so I'm not sure.

Grumpus wrote: "Update...I think I have it installed but the menu choices look the same so I'm not sure."

The menu choices are entirely different, and much more extensive on Rockbox. If installed correctly, you have considerable choice of the appearance of the menus--and they are much different from the menus that are "factory installed" with the mp3 player.

CatBookMom wrote: "Could you possibly list an outline of what ought to be done to make it possible to use this on a plain Clip or Clip+? Or a link to a page which is simple for non-techies? Thank you."

The users manuals are located here:
http://www.rockbox.org/manual.shtml
There is a section in the manuals on installation. I would advise using the first option: automatic install.

I don't know of a set of less technical instructions. I agree, the manual is rather complicated and should be read carefully before installing. Also, the extensive set of options and features are not for the faint of heart.

Thanks David. I'll give it another go later this week after reading the documentation

David wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "Update...I think I have it installed but the menu choices look the same so I'm not sure."

The menu choices are entirely different, and much more extensive on Rockbox. If installed ..."

Ugh...I've spent at least 3 hours on this. I've updated .bin files, downloaded and read the manual, and watched YouTube videos, all to no avail.. It seems relatively easy but I must be dense. I remember when I used to be able to most things technological. As I get older, I find I can't keep up with it even though installations are supposedly easier.

I'm not giving up though. I WANT the features Rockbox offers so I am now asking my 14-year-old daughters to ask their techie friend to help me. Something, I'm sure, he'll be able to do in 10 minutes.

I'll keep updating this soap opera until it is solved.

Joel wrote: "I am pretty much constantly listening to audiobooks on my iPod, thanks either to my brother's longstanding audible membership (6 years and counting!) or the local library (Audiobook Builder is a gr..."

Oh yes! Listening at a faster pace is really exciting. The first time I ever heard of the concept, I was listening to a self-help audio book, explaining exactly how it is done, how the brain can understand and interpret the words. It does taking some used to, but it if done gradually, you end up listening to more things.

I find it more difficult when I listen to my Coursera lectures. I think though it is not because of the pace, but when I need to learn something I shouldn't be cooking, cleaning, ironing, playing computer games... ha ha!

Grumpus wrote: "David wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "Update...I think I have it installed but the menu choices look the same so I'm not sure."

The menu choices are entirely different, and much more extensive on Rockbox...."

Grumpus, I don't remember it being quite that difficult. Are you doing the automatic install? I would recommend that, instead of the manual install procedure.

David wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "David wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "Update...I think I have it installed but the menu choices look the same so I'm not sure."

The menu choices are entirely different, and much more exten..."

Yup, automatic install. From the detail/messages on the Rockbox screen it appears to be successful. It took many iterations just to get to that point. Going to Sansa to track down the right files was a nightmare. But for some reason, I never see it writing or transferring data to the Clip as shown in the YouTube video. After restarting the Clip, there is nothing different on the menu choices and from the YouTube video, it should boot up with Rockbox immediately. I'm at a complete loss. Hoping the techie kid can assist me.

Grumpus wrote: "David wrote: "Grumpus wrote:
The menu choices are entirely different, and m..."

Make sure to turn on the Clip while it is disconnected from the charging cable. Then, yes, the Rockbox menu should show up. I don't remember it being as difficult to install as you have found it to be.

The fate of my install now resides with a 14-year old techie...I dropped the Clip off this morning and awaiting the call hoping the operation was successful.

Grumpus wrote: "The fate of my install now resides with a 14-year old techie...I dropped the Clip off this morning and awaiting the call hoping the operation was successful."

Where are the "Funny" and "Agree" buttons? Makes me think I might be over-reaching myself thinking I can try this on my own, but sadly, I don't know any young techies.

Joel wrote: "I am pretty much constantly listening to audiobooks on my iPod, thanks either to my brother's longstanding audible membership (6 years and counting!) or the local library (Audiobook Builder is a gr..."

The speed I use is pretty much dictated by the reader. If I need to speed up his voice, I do. It's not the story, imo. I'm listening to the Lord of the Rings series and it's read by Rob Inglis. Well, his regular speed is ok, but it's like listening to a fairy tail around a camp fire. A bit slow in that my objective is simply understanding the story because "I think I should" to appear to have a brain when talking to nieces/nephews, not so much because I'm a fan of Tolkien, Bilbow, Gollum, or Tolkien's plethora of elves, wizards, dragons, blah-blah.

I listen to most books at 2x speed, but I've had to reduce it depending on the reader. For example, when I listened to Dustin Hoffman reading Being There, as much as I would have liked to listen as 2x, it didn't sound right.

I have a 5th generation iPod Nano, which works great. I listen to my audiobooks on the fastest playback speed, but I think my fastest playback option is 1.2x.

I've been toying with getting either the newest nano, touch, or classic for a variety of reasons. Anyone use these devices for audiobooks, and, if so, do you know what playback speed options are available on them? (I'd also be interested in your general experience using them for audiobooks, but I'm most interested in playback speed at this point.)

Thanks! Kristie

If you get the IPod Touch or IPhone- or any device where you can download "Apps" the Audible App is what I use which gives you many different speed options such as .75x (slower?!) normal 1x, 1.5x, 1.25x, 2x, 2.5x and 3x! It's a free App too! You don't have to upload/download any additional add-ons or software extras as it's all right there on the app. Pretty nifty! Though this is of course for audible audiobook downloads only.


Kristie wrote: "I have a 5th generation iPod Nano, which works great. I listen to my audiobooks on the fastest playback speed, but I think my fastest playback option is 1.2x.

I've been toying with getting either..."

Abigail wrote: "If you get the IPod Touch or IPhone- or any device where you can download "Apps" the Audible App is what I use which gives you many different speed options such as .75x (slower?!) normal 1x, 1.5x, ..."

Thanks, Abigail. I really wish that would work for me, but my primary listening time is in my car, and I want to play through my car's stereo system (using a USB cable). If my car was one year younger my car stereo would recognize the Audible app on my smartphone, but alas, I will not be getting a new car anytime soon. So as far as I know, I'm stuck using an mp3 player. I've been using iPods for years, so I'm inclined to stay with them. (You know...old dog, new tricks. :) )

Glad to help Kristie, I also listen primarily in my car through my iphone. One last option I can suggest for your smartphone or ipod Touch if you end up getting one is, try one of the speaker docks where you plug in your device into a small deck that has speakers, [battery operated, USB cable powered so you can attempt to plug that into your car stereo, or you plug into your car cigarette lighter for power] which you can then place the device on the seat next to you or passenger side floor board, or somewhere in your car. If you research there are many different types of these speaker docks, some cheap with small but adequate speakers, some pricey with better sound depending on your preference and price range. I listen in the car on my iphone with headphones, although I know I am not supposed to. In California it is an offense to drive with headphones [but not in all states, so I do so at my own risk :]

Anyway good luck to you!


Kristie wrote: "Abigail wrote: "If you get the IPod Touch or IPhone- or any device where you can download "Apps" the Audible App is what I use which gives you many different speed options such as .75x (slower?!) n..."

My now aging iPod Touch (2nd generation) plays Audible and other audiobooks without the app just fine. I can change the speed on the audiobooks but have fewer settings (½x, 1x, 2x)...

Thank you Leslie, this is helpful so I'm not restricted to only audible audio books. Is that through the itunes music library settings on the device or where on the Idevice do I find the settings? [I have an ipod Touch but listen through my iphone, probably the setting is in the same place]

Audible gets me hooked into using their app by creating these "listener badges" where you can hit achievements for doing certain cool things like listening for a certain number of hours straight etc. I'm at the moment not on social network like Facebook but if you like to post on FB or Twitter about what you are reading, the app can do that and post your achievements, but that's a whole other topic!

Also, I'm not sure if itunes/iphone/ipod library has this but the audible app tracks stats like how many hours a day/week/month you listened. This helps me gauge how long it will take me to listen to a book by keeping track of how many hours a day I listen, if I am trying to listen to 2 hours a day for instance. I try to reach my goal of at least 2 hours a day, and being able to track that stat through the audible app is extremely helpful.

Leslie wrote: "My now aging iPod Touch (2nd generation) plays Audible and other audiobooks without the app just fine. I can change the speed on the audiobooks but have fewer settings (½x, 1x, 2x)..."

Abigail wrote: "Glad to help Kristie, I also listen primarily in my car through my iphone. One last option I can suggest for your smartphone or ipod Touch if you end up getting one is, try one of the speaker docks..."

All things being equal, I'd rather listen through the car's speakers, and I'd like to avoid using headphones in the car. (I think it's illegal here in Minnesota, too.) As it is, my current iPod works just fine for what I need, so I should probably just hold onto my money until it dies. :)

Thanks Leslie!