At what speed do you listen to audiobooks?

[Shane]

I have been listening at 1.25 speed. That means I can do a 12 hr book in 9 hours. And it does not sound rushed.

[✨Susan✨]

I think it is different for everyone. For me, it depends on the narrator. Some are drastically phonetically slow so I choose 1.25...etc depending. However, some narratives I would not miss because I enjoy what it adds to the story. All in your own discretion.

[Jim]

I never thought of listening at a different speed. I wonder if my Sansa Clip MP3 player even has that option. I've never seen it if it does.

[Travis]

Used to listen at 2x. A while ago audible app updated for droid and seemed to speed up the settings. Now I listen at 1.5x. But it depends. With classics such as Dickens I usually slow it down to 1.25 or 1 and then sonetimes with non fiction or biographies I have gone all the way to 3x. Depends on difficulty of book and speed of narrator but 1.5 is my go to speed.

[Ashley Marie]

I usually listen at normal speed, but if I'm bored with it or I'm nearing the end, I might bump it up to 1.25 just to get through it faster.

[Kristie]

On my Audible app (Android) I listen at 3x, which when you time it is actually 2x. On my Smart AudioBook app (again, Android) I listen at about 1.9x. I adjust it to a slightly slower speed for narrators with thicker accents or for more complex content/stories.

Speeding up plays to my impatient nature. :) I started speeding up my audiobooks with longer books because I found myself stalling/dreading them even if it was an amazing book. Now it pains me to listen at normal speed. It sounds abnormally slow to me. I think my first book I tried at a faster speed was To Kill a Mockingbird. I kept checking to see if I actually sped it up, because Sissy Spacek's narration was quite slow.

[Patricia]

ALWAYS at normal speed.
I have a physical reaction at the faster speeds and even at normal speed when a narrator talks too fast - it's hard to describe but it makes me feel anxious and jittery and makes my insides clench up. I tried it once and quite literally couldn't stand it and I couldn't turn it off fast enough.

I'm a fairly relaxed person, I have no issues with anxiety etc in my normal life. However I do think I am voice sensitive, in real life and in audiobooks higher pitched fast talkers, make me want to leave the room. And when they show people experiencing psychiatric episodes on TV/movies etc and they are pacing and rambling and speaking really quickly...I want to run.
I have no idea where that reaction comes from, no traumatic events in my past that I know about.
I can't even imagine 3x speed, I'd probably want crawl out of my skin to get away from it!

[Specs]

Fastfood, fast listening.
I'm a slowfood, normal speed listening person, I don't understand this need to go go go, faster faster.
Life, food and books should be savoured.

[Marcel]

I tried 1.5x and I've tried 1.25x, but I still prefer 1x. Any faster than that, and I'm unable to multitask.

[Jim]

Does the faster speed change the tone or quality of the voice? Make them squeaky or anything? I really don't like high voiced narrators, but I also dislike slow narrators.

[Vishakha]

I have tried all sorts of speeds up to 2x, I tend to usually go with 1.25x but recently I had NOS4A2 and the narration is quite fast, so I listen to it at normal speed. For me it entirely depends on the book, but I always start the book with 1x to understand the characters and then move on to higher speeds. I seem to get more from the book when I'm reading and listening so I go on higher speeds with ebooks or print books in hand. I can't listen on slow speeds once into the book.

Jim, yes it makes them sort of go really fast-forward and squeak because its literally like keeping the fast-forward button pressed.

[Simone]

Normal, on smart for android. Any change in speed ruins the nature of the product. on that, i'm pretty adamant.

[Simone]

Jim wrote: "Does the faster speed change the tone or quality of the voice? Make them squeaky or anything? I really don't like high voiced narrators, but I also dislike slow narrators."

of course it does, to varying deegrees depending on rate of decrease or increase. A modified speed gives always way to a NON-NATURAL voice.

[Jan]

Jim wrote: "I never thought of listening at a different speed. I wonder if my Sansa Clip MP3 player even has that option. I've never seen it if it does."

The Sansa has the option but you end up listening to chipmunks so it's pretty useless.

I like 1.25 speed best when I'm listening using an app or Overdrive. I wish Audible Manager on my computer had the option to speed things up. I use my computer a lot to listen during the day.

Can you speed things up if you are streaming straight from Audible??

[Scott S.]

It took FOREVER to convince myself to bump up the speed, but I'm glad I did. My usual listening speed is now 1.5-1.7x, sometimes slower for a narrator I love.

If you haven't listened faster yet, try baby steps. Speed notches of .1 are barely perceptible, start at 1.1, you will notice zero difference in narration and save an hour on a 10 hour book. Even at faster speeds your brain adjusts and soon you don't realize you're listening faster.

Smart Audiobook Player has .1x increments and doesn't "chipmunk". The difference in chipmunk vs non-chipmunk is finding a player that changes the speed, but not the pitch.

As for the idea of listening slower to enjoy life, do you read your written books aloud so that they aren't too fast also? ;)

I don't feel like I've lost a moment's enjoyment by listening faster. If anything I have increased my joy by being able to listen to more books.

[Jim]

Jan wrote: "The Sansa has the option but you end up ..."

Thanks. I figured it would be like listening to the Chipmunks, but thought maybe technology had found a way around that. I don't want to listen to Alvin.

[☘ Erin K ☘]

I just recently starting listening to my audiobooks at a higher speed. What speed I listen to really depends upon the story and the narrator.

While listening to The Hangman's Daughter, I found I actually got more out of the story and paid more attention when I was listening at 1.5 speed. When listening at normal speed, I tended to drift off and think of other things and find I was missing part of the story.

I'm currently listening to Dracula and 1.25 seems to be a good speed for that narration.

On the other hand, I would never speed up a narration of Ralph Cosham reading Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache books - I love his voice and savor those books.

[Margo]

Depends on 2 things: the narrator and the the speed on the plot. Some stories I whiz through cos I just want to get to climax. A really good, thoughtful, well written and well narrated story I will slow right the way down!

[Margo]

Erin/Ginger wrote: "I just recently starting listening to my audiobooks at a higher speed. What speed I listen to really depends upon the story and the narrator.

While listening to The Hangman's Daughter, I found ..."

Are you listening to the Audible Edition, narrated by Alan Cummings, Tim Curry et al? I've just finished that one and it was trully wonderful!

[Simone]

J. wrote: "It took FOREVER to convince myself to bump up the speed, but I'm glad I did. My usual listening speed is now 1.5-1.7x, sometimes slower for a narrator I love.

If you haven't listened faster yet, t..."


sorry, i tried 1.1 on smart... it's not the real thing, sorry to say. To assert there aren't differences is an act of naivete at the least...

Changing speed, you betray the essence of what are you doing. Better stay loyal and spend a month instead of 3 weeks, to finish a book.

Honestly, i thought i'd find a community of dedicated and passionate readers here, but as it turns out, American practicality indeed wins all.

[Donna]

I resisted speeding up too - thought it seemed kind of silly to speed up something I loved so much, and had this judgmental idea that people listening at higher speeds didn't really get the whole experience (similar to the people who think listening is somehow a cheat vs reading).

I started listening at 1.25 several books ago (I always listen to the first few chapters at 1.0) and I'm amazed at how wrong I was. On all of the platforms I use (Audible app, Apple ibooks, Overdrive App) the technology keeps the pitch much the same so that it's not obviously chipmunky and even the slightly odd fast experience goes away after a few minutes; the brain really is pretty adaptable.

The really weird part is that my concentration on at least some books seems better at a slightly higher speed.

I read print at different speeds, for different reasons, and nice to know the brain can handle different listening speeds too.

[Simone]

i didn't say the technology isn't good... simply, i can't fathom any reason to speed up a book (and yes, listening, to me, is kind of cheating, though i picked up this habit, in order to better my listening skills and i would never go back on the choice).

I can't conceive of toying with a carefully put product only because "life is too short" or, even worse, cos i need to adjust myself to the new "speeding books up" fad.

[Margo]

Simone wrote: "J. wrote: "It took FOREVER to convince myself to bump up the speed, but I'm glad I did. My usual listening speed is now 1.5-1.7x, sometimes slower for a narrator I love.

If you haven't listened fa..."

Simone Surly you have come across even 1 book where you want to know the outcome but find either that the narration is awful or that the plot is non existant?

I am guilty of the crime of "skimming" when I'm just not interested, whether in audio or in print! And I'm not even American. ...

[Vishakha]

Everyone has their own choices, no-one asked me to try listening on faster speed, but when I was listening to We Were Liars, the narration was way too slow for me, so I went up a notch, I enjoyed the book equally good and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss any details (well there was nothing much to miss). About cheating, naah I really don't care, because if I'm increasing the speed I make sure I still understand what's going on so I get the story line.

Certainly, there are some books I would prefer listening to normal speeds, the ones that have many characters and similar names like A Game of Thrones. It's huge but I'd like to spend my time on it. Similarly, I think I'd listen to Ray Bradbury's works at my own to enjoy his writing, his language.

[Simone]

I carefully choose what to read. I'm even starting to buy stuff only cos a narrator i love is involved. Of course, i would never read a "romance" novel, even if it was read by the likes of Vance or Rudnicki...

[Margo]

Vishakha wrote: "Everyone has their own choices, no-one asked me to try listening on faster speed, but when I was listening to We Were Liars, the narration was way too slow for me, so I went up a no..."

Completely agree Vishakha. As a dyslexic person i am wounded when say audio is cheating. I struggle through printed works, turn to audio for relaxation, and thank my lucky stars for the times i live in!!

[Margo]

Simone wrote: "I carefully choose what to read. I'm even starting to buy stuff only cos a narrator i love is involved. Of course, i would never read a "romance" novel, even if it was read by the likes of Vance or..."

Oh, that's a shame. There are many wonderful, classical masterpieces in the romance genre. But it would be a dull world if we all agreed!

[Simone]

i'm not talking jane austen. i refer to newer stuff, the kind of books you would read carelessly...

[Daphne]

I'm at the point now that I start every book at 1.5x and it generally stays there. Sometimes I adjust up if 1.5 still seems a bit slow. I can't do normal speeds anymore. Speeding up to 1.5 seems like more of the natural speed that people talk, so it is more like someone is telling you a story or explaining something to you (since I do tend to science/history), and I like the naturalism to that speed.

Heck, I just started the Malazan Empires series with Gardens of the Moon. I have 4 books loaded up now on my phone to save space for other books, and SABP is telling me that those 4 are clocking in at just over 139 hours. I'm guessing the entire series is sitting somewhere between 350-400 hours!

[Scott S.]

139, wow, that's beastly. I'm listening to Don Quixote, it's 24 hours at 1.6 speed. I just wouldn't have ever listened if normal speed were the only option.

Have you ever brought the speed down to 1x after listening at a faster speed? I accidentally hit 1x the other day and thought the world had gone into slow motion.

[Leslie]

Susan wrote: "I think it is different for everyone. For me, it depends on the narrator. Some are drastically phonetically slow so I choose 1.25...etc depending. However, some narratives I would not miss because ..."

This is my response too -- it just depends.

[Jim]

I'm trying the fast read speed. It is a little weird, but I didn't care too much for the narrator & his voice is low enough that it might be OK. Thanks to all for turning me on to this feature.

[Nospin]

Jim wrote: "I'm trying the fast read speed. It is a little weird, but I didn't care too much for the narrator & his voice is low enough that it might be OK. Thanks to all for turning me on to this feature."

Since you have just started to use the option, Jim, I'll share how I do it to give you options in your approach.

I start at 1 25 for 5 to 10 minutes and then go to 1.5. After half an hour I usually go to 1.75 or 2
The gradual increase allows my brain to adjust without losing comprehension

[☘ Erin K ☘]

Margo wrote: "Are you listening to the Audible Edition, narrated by Alan Cummings, Tim Curry et al? I've just finished that one and it was truly wonderful! ..."

That's the one I'm listening to. About half way through it and am enjoying it.

[Robin P]

To me it's a sign of a weak book if I go to a faster speed. I remember doing this with All the Light We Cannot See (I know, most people love it) and it was still very intelligible, I even wanted to go faster to get through some grim parts, but my iPod doesn't go over 2. There was at least one other like that. But usually the reason I get the book on audio is specifically so that I can enjoy the performance. There are some series and narrators where I don't even consider print because it's all about the voice and mannerisms of the narrator.

If I want to get through something quickly because I can't wait for the end or I need to finish for a book group, I get the print book, where I'm quite fast. Someone above compared listening at 1x speed to reading a paper book out loud. I think it's more like whether you carefully read through every word in print or zip through, which I sometimes do with descriptions or in a lightweight genre (in a sense putting my inner reading "voice" on 2x or faster)

Again it's a sign of a mediocre audiobook if I want it to be over faster than it is going. Usually if it doesn't grab me, I'll quit altogether rather than change speed (on the "life is too short" philosophy, if I'm not into it, even a speeded-up listen isn't the best use of my time.)

[☘ Erin K ☘]

I don't increase the speed to hurry through the book or because life is too short or because it's a fad that apparently I've never heard of. I read or listen to a book for enjoyment so rushing through it would negate the very reason I enjoy books. I have just found that with some books or narrators, it actually improves my concentration and comprehension of the story, which in turn, increases my enjoyment of the experience. But it is specific to the book and the pace set by the narrator - sometimes it just doesn't jibe with the pace that my brain prefers.

[Powder River Rose]

I've never considered speeding up a book, if I don't like the book I just stop listening to it and try it later (sometimes a year or so later) or I forget it altogether. If I'm listening to a book I've agreed to review that is different, then I must listen to every word but I wouldn't speed it up either.

Speeding the book along would likely drive me batty.....

[Brian's]

It really depends on the narrator. Some narrators I have no problem listening to them at 1x. But if they are extremely... enunciating...every...word I can do up to 2x. Usually 1.25 though.

[Jody]

Susan wrote: "I think it is different for everyone. For me, it depends on the narrator. Some are drastically phonetically slow so I choose 1.25...etc depending. However, some narratives I would not miss because ..."

Agreed! I do 1.25 speed with most audiobooks but some narrators speak fast so I have to put it to 1x speed.

[Jim]

Nospin wrote: "Since you have just started to use the option, Jim, I'll share how I do it to give you options in your approach...."

I appreciate the advice, however I only listen to audio books on my Sansa Clip & that seems to have only 3 speeds: slow, normal, & fast. I'm not sure what the rate is (maybe 1.25x), but there isn't any tone fix. I'm getting older, so I hear lower tones better than high ones. This narrator has a low enough voice that his is still quite intelligible even at the faster speed. I doubt most women narrators would be.

I doubt I'll use this option often. I read for enjoyment, not because I have to. In this case, No Lesser Plea is the first in a legal thriller series that runs for almost 2 dozen books. This one contains a lot of important background, but it's not supposed to be the best in the series. Too many info dumps (something that many first books suffer from) & I'm not thrilled with the narrator. Neither his voice nor pacing suits my tastes well. It's not awful, but I certainly don't want to dwaddle & savor the story.

I might also do this on boring sections of otherwise good nonfiction books, too. Someone mentioned skimming earlier in this thread. I do that with print a lot, especially with documentation of computer/network systems. Skipping sections that don't seem to apply to my configuration/needs can be dangerous.

I'll probably continue to listen to most books at regular speed. I couldn't ruin John Lee's fantastic narrations by speeding up. It wouldn't be any fun doing that with an actor reading their autobiography, either. I have trouble enough understanding & hearing Neil Gaiman at the best of times. He has a great voice, but he sometimes speaks very softly or quickly. A fast speed would also ruin audio productions.

I think this will remain a nice feature that I'll use sparingly. I get my books from three different libraries, so I have a good selection with no monetary stake. If I don't like them, I just quit. The few that I do buy, I'm sure I'm going to like. Lately, that's been the Matt Helm & Quarry books read by Stephen Rudnicki by Skyboat Media. I really like the series & the reader. Together, they're just fantastic & I want to savor them, although I can't imagine slowing Rudnicki's deep voice down. Might cause earthquakes.
;)

[Julesy]

Erin/Ginger wrote: "I don't increase the speed to hurry through the book or because life is too short or because it's a fad that apparently I've never heard of. I read or listen to a book for enjoyment so rushing through it would negate the very reason I enjoy books. I have just found that with some books or narrators, it actually improves my concentration and comprehension of the story, which in turn, increases my enjoyment of the experience. But it is specific to the book and the pace set by the narrator - sometimes it just doesn't jibe with the pace that my brain prefers."

This is me. :-D

If I am listening during my daily 2+ hour commute to work, I savour it because it distracts me from all the backups, accidents and idiots driving on the road. I use my Sansa Fuze and play at Normal speed. The Fast on the Sansa is waaaay too fast and sounds awful and at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Slow setting is intolerable as well.

However, if I am at work, I will use either the Audible app or Smartbook Reader app. If I am doing work that is pretty routine and does not require to strain my brain too much, I will usually speed the audio to 1.25X or 1.2X, respectively.

My goal is to make sure I am comprehending the most out of the book so I may adjust the speed faster or slower accordingly. Sometimes I do speed it up just because the book is not that great and I want to get through it more quickly. If the book is just that bad, I will then just resort to skimming through the print (electronic or paper) version of the book.

[Liz]

I usually listen at regular speed (and I'm from new jersey where we do everything fast!) but occasionally I will bump up to 1.25. To me 1.5 and over sounds like chipmunks!

[Jessica]

Fortunately with the Audible app for android speeding up doesn't change the pitch of the narrator. However, I have found that unless the narrator is speaking really slow that 1.5 and above is just too fast for me. I tend to miss a lot of details if the speed is too fast. OTOH, too slow and my mind will wander all over the place again causing me to miss too many details because I was not listening. Usually 1.25 is about right for me.

[Simone]

Seriously, i continue to miss the point on the apparent unsuitability of listening books at normal speed, I.E. as they were originally conceived. From what i read, speeding up is like drinking coffee in the morning, for the 90% of you.

Someone help me here, honestly. I'm completely failing to grasp and therefore accept this perspective....

[Jim]

Simone wrote: "Seriously, i continue to miss the point on the apparent unsuitability of listening books at normal speed, I.E. as they were originally conceived...."

Do you like the way everything is made? Is your house or desk at work exactly like everyone else's? My stuff is mostly customized. Tastes vary. How do you read? Do you read every single word of every book & never skim? With me, it depends on the book, even parts of the book.

I have listened to hundreds of audio books at normal speed. I just finished listening to my first at 'fast' speed & started another book that I'm back to listening to a normal speed. I liked the other one better at fast speed. The narrator was slow & low voiced, the story wasn't very complicated, & even a bit boring, but I've read reviews that say that later books in the series are much better & it is best to read them in order. It turned out to be a perfect time for listening at fast speed, but I doubt I'll make a habit of it. It's a nice option, though. I might have gotten through a couple of others I abandoned if I'd known about it before.

[Daphne]

Simone wrote: "Seriously, i continue to miss the point on the apparent unsuitability of listening books at normal speed, I.E. as they were originally conceived. From what i read, speeding up is like drinking coff..."

For me, I just completely lose focus if I try to listen to anything less than 1.5x. 1.5 sounds completely normal to me anymore, and I'm more comfortable speeding up past that than slowing down. I read and listen to many, many books. I've been an incredibly fast reader since I was very young, so it might be a way my brain is wired. Who knows.

I do feel you have been slightly disparaging to others that don't listen/read your way because it is apparently the only correct way. From everything I've seen around the group since I joined, it's a very supportive place, and that's a big reason why I enjoy it.

There is also a part of me that looks at my library full of a few thousand paper books (that I've only read 75% of), my ebook collection of thousands more (that I've barely scratched the surface), and my nearly 1TB collection of audiobooks - and I am thankful that I can read/listen as fast as I do because I've been able to learn and experience SOOOO much from it.

[Simone]

for me, it's pretty simple, as it was with print books.

i carefully choose what to read, based on autorship, genre, plot lines (in that order of importance) so disappointing isn't really part of the game.

These precautions notwithstanding, if i find a book not to my liking, i simply discard it.

no one urges us to read 200 books a year... quality always > quantity.

Furthemore, if a narator is slow voiced is cos he decided (or the director decided for him) to read the book that way. Who are we to simply ignore professional choices, and try to suit the book to our needs?

there's nothing to do about it. speeding is like skimming on print books... a crime, an absurdity, i would say... an outrage.

Maybe reading is not for everyone.

sorry if i sound snobbish, here in italy it's 2 AM and i'm pretty tired...

[Daphne]

Simone wrote: "Maybe reading is not for everyone.

sorry if i sound snobbish, here in italy it's 2 AM and i'm pretty tired... "

Yup, that's pretty darn insulting. Thanks for insulting my intelligence, and ability to read and listen with comprehension.

I just came back from three weeks in Italy in September. I'm happy to say that the vast majority of the people there were kind and welcoming to a tourist that can only speak English and insisted on taking public transportation everywhere without much regard for how she would find herself back in her bed at the end of the day. I'll use that experience to make sure I don't generalize an entire culture based on one snobby person that believes their way of living life is the only correct one.

[Jessica]

Simone wrote: "for me, it's pretty simple, as it was with print books.

i carefully choose what to read, based on autorship, genre, plot lines (in that order of importance) so disappointing isn't really part of t..."

Maybe this group is not for you. You seem to think that only your way is the right way. Clearly you are in the minority here.

You said, " Who are we to ignore professional choices..." I have never been to Italy so I don't know how things are done there, but here in the USA we don't hesitate to change things professionals have done to suit our own needs. For example, the house I grew up in was designed by a professional architect for a professional real estate developer ane was built by a professional building contractor. That did not stop my father from knocking out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room to open up the space between the two because it was more aesthetically pleasing to my mother. It did not stop him from building another bedroom on our enormous back porch so that our two bedroom house could become a three bedroom house so that my sister and I could have our own bedrooms. My father, not professionals, did those things because he chose to do what right for our family.

By comparison, just listening to a book at faster than normal speed or skimming over the info dumps in many books to get back to the story are small things.

Your way may be right for you, but that does not mean it is right for everybody. We respect your personal choices. It is not too much to ask for you to respect everyone elses. If you can't be respectful of others at 2:00 am, then perhaps you should confine you online time to times of day when you CAN be respectful of others.

[Jim]

Simone wrote: "for me..."

Exactly - for you. What is your stake in the way I read? Why do you care? I don't care how you read. It's none of my business.

Simone wrote: "...Furthemore, if a narator is slow voiced is cos he decided (or the director decided for him) to read the book that way. Who are we to simply ignore professional choices, and try to suit the book to our needs?..."

Who is the 'professional' or artist to tell me how to enjoy the final product? I turn bowls on a lathe & sell them. I don't tell people they have to use them a certain way. They can take them home & use them to feed their cats in, keep change in, or stick in a closet. They bought the product & can use it however they want. If they ruin it or can't see it, that's their right & problem.

Simone wrote: "...speeding is like skimming on print books... a crime, an absurdity, i would say... an outrage..."

That's not just a snobbish statement, that's plain obnoxious. You're not entitled to make any sort of judgement on how I read. I find it hard to believe you could even type such a ridiculous statement.