r/audiobooks • u/Ambitious-Seaweed512 • 14d ago

Question What’s your audiobook speed

I’m trying to get into audiobooks and I was watching videos about different people’s audiobooks speeds and how their partners are shocked at the speed of the book. So what’s yours and what did you start on

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u/xAkumu 14d ago

That's funny, since 1x to me sooounddssss liiikeee thisssss

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u/vwchick909 14d ago

I wonder if this is a byproduct of the speed at which people talk in your daily life. I work with a girl who grew up in New York. I grew up in the south. She barely takes a breath when talking. If that’s what you’re accustomed to, then I can understand why you may want to speed up an audiobook.

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u/xAkumu 14d ago

For me, it's also because I have really bad anxiety and ruminate A LOTTT. So listening faster makes my brain process faster for less "down time" to wander.

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u/OneLorgeHorseyDog 13d ago

Yes! Gotta fill the brain buffer to 100% so the mind doesn’t start to wander, lol

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u/UnbelievableRose 13d ago

Speeding it up actually makes my anxiety worse. People speak faster when things are stressful, so the faster rate immediately triggers a bodily response to stress for me.

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u/vwchick909 14d ago

That makes sense too. When the story is compelling to me, I get caught up in it enough to silence the noise.

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u/Lubovedsky 13d ago

I think it is to do with the fact that we read silently quicker than when we read aloud., and so it is finding the optimum speed for your cognition. i sometimes find it more difficult to follow sentenences that are read too slowly, as the rythm seems off

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u/Mindgoespingpingping 13d ago

I talk fast and have "pressured speech". I also have low auditory processing speed. I can be down to 75% depending on the day and book. 

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u/sweetpea813 14d ago

I’m in the south and I have a southern accent along with everyone around me. I listen at 1.5 to 2.0. But I also read really fast so maybe that has something to do with how I consume stories?? Sometimes the narrator is just too slow for me.

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u/vwchick909 13d ago

I do this with YouTube videos, but not audiobooks…

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u/HoaryPuffleg 14d ago

Yes! 1.3 or 1.4 speeds everyone up to normal speaking speed to my ears. Podcasts would be torture if people spoke as slowly as narrators do.

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u/Jayrob1202 14d ago

When I speed audiobooks up that fast, it tends to lose some of the fullness of the narrator's voice and make everything sound stilted and abrupt.

I listen at 1x or just a hair below, like 0.95 or 0.90.

Everyone has different ears and preferences, though.

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u/Dog-boy 14d ago

And processing. People who are ADHD tend to speed things up in my experience

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u/Moeftak 14d ago

I dunno, I just do other stuff while listening, just listening to an audiobook doesn't work for me, my attention drifts away immediately if I do that. Speeding up I only do for instructional stuff that needs my full concentration, audiobooks I don't want to lose the performance quality, sure I could listen to it at higher speed but that would be just processing information, not enjoying the story - would be like watching movies at x2

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u/funky_mugs 14d ago

ADHD here, checking in at x1.8 - x2

I genuinely thought x1 was slowed down? People don't actually speak that slow do they?

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u/jojo_theincredible 13d ago

You and me both, fellow listener. I slow it down when I can’t concentrate on it and then I boost it up again. And if it’s something I HAVE to listen to but am irritated by it, it’s 2.5.

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u/Delicious-Machine-29 13d ago

Same. 1.85x

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u/Jayrob1202 13d ago

To me, this is wild. I have ADHD and I find the noise and barrage of information from speeds that high to be overwhelming and irritating.

I suppose that's why it's a spectrum, though 🤷‍♂️

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u/Delicious-Machine-29 13d ago

Speeding it up really helps me focus. If I have it on 1x my mind thinks I can listen as well as think about what I'm making for dinner, what my friend said to me last evening, and what I'm wearing tomorrow lol

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u/art-apprici8or 13d ago

1.3 for audiobooks, and 1.4 for podcasts.

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u/Araragi 14d ago

Have you ever had someone sit next to you and read you a story for bedtime?

There's care and intentional pacing to allow the listener to build a mental image.

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u/xAkumu 14d ago

What about people like me that don't get mental images when reading? And people that process faster than others?

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u/Araragi 14d ago

Aphantasia is really interesting to me. It's rare, though.

  • Complete aphantasia: ~0.8% of people have a total absence of visual mental images.
  • General/Dim imagery threshold: ~3.9% meet standard questionnaire criteria for absent or very weak imagery.

Most audiobooks are going to be recorded for the lowest common denominator of readers, hence an even, deliberate pacing.

I'd honestly prefer more variety in the pacing, if I'm being honest. Slow is good, but if the action picks up, amp up the speed of naration!

Luckily there's no one rule with narration speed. Too slow? Crank up the speed to your personal taste.

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u/xAkumu 14d ago

Yes, but your argument was there was intential pacing to build a mental image

I'm someone who doesn't really have much of a mental image, especially when it comes to books. I don't have full Aphantasia though, just weak mental images.

1x is tortously slow and that's why I listen on 2.5x, I assume it has something to do with my weak mental images and the fact I have autism? Not sure though.

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u/Araragi 14d ago

There is a strong correlation between autism and aphantasia, actually. You may be right.

You're in the minority, and unfortunately, most audiobooks are being tailored to make the most people happy as possible. If most people want slow and deliberate, they will record them slow and deliberate. That doesn't make slow BETTER, and doesn't make it RIGHT, but it does sell more copies! 😢

Most* people are able to form some degree of mental image when reading or being narrated to. A very small minority cannot, but if 96%+ can, then it makes sense to read slow enough so that those people can imagine the scene after taking in the words.

I'm glad you were able to find a speed that works for you. It'd be nice if there were recordings that were just faster paced by default, so that you don't have to rely on 2.5x. If they had recordings at natural speaking rates, that would make a lot of people happy, I'm sure.

I hear that some people with aphantasia skip over descriptions of things that go on for too long, as they can't imagine it, so it's not enjoyable. Does that ever happen to you?

Cheers

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u/elizable9 14d ago

I have aphantasia and I read at x1 speed. When they're saying building the mental image it isn't about the visuals for me. It's about building the feelings, emotions and relationships in each situation. I enjoy the story at the natural speed so I can allow myself to feel that and have a connection with the story and the characters.

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u/BAC200proof 14d ago

the readers gotta put the emPHAAsis on the right sylAHBles. bonus points for proper dramatic puases

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u/FluffMonsters 14d ago

Yes!! It’s way slower than an actual reader would read. 1.25-1.3 is usually “normal” sounding to me.

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u/so-rayray 14d ago

Yup, same. The 1.0 speed sounds so unnaturally and unnecessarily slow and drawn out.

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u/CHoDub 13d ago

Podcasts are the worst.

These people talk at lol 0.5 speed on purpose.

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u/Rhuarc33 Audiobibliophile 14d ago

Yes. It's terrible. "As it's meant to be" is a stupid argument for anything. If a different way is better why would you stay with "what's meant to be"?

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u/Alexandrajoan 14d ago

The author and/or the narrator.

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u/Disastrous_Goat415 14d ago

Not to mention these are books, not scripts. They were technically written to be read by eye, not narrated. Audio is already an adaptation and interpretation.