My wife got me into audiobooks. We’re both avid readers, and wanted to read when we couldn’t read. My wife, however, cranks her shit up to 2x to consume, consume, consume, and chastises me for listening at normal speed. I want to enjoy what I’m reading, bask in the world building.
Honestly it really depends on how boring parts are. If it’s 1x speed for some content and highly predictable what they are going to say, I for some reason assume I know the rest of the sentence they will say, then use the “extra time” I just gained and let my mind wander. Then I miss the next sentence. So strangely, I can understand things better at a higher speed because it doesn’t give me time for that bad habit. Maybe she is like that too, finding she understands it better if she listens to it faster because it makes her focus better.
I have some podcasts I’ll listen to at 1.2x speed but it’s usually because I’m trying to get it to properly fit a given drive. I have one relatively frequent drive that I can nicely fit 3 episodes of a daily podcast at 1.2x speed, but otherwise is too long for 2 episodes or too short for a third at 1x speed. For audiobooks though I stick with 1x so I can fully take in the content.
For reading I really only read in bed now, so it takes me about 2-4 weeks to finish a book usually
I agree with everything you said. Podcasts are shorter and so I don’t want to have 8 minutes left to finish later, because I just won’t. But I’m listening to 30-hour books, and I’m going to have a listen the way it’s meant to be listened to.
I also only read in bed, and I basically do a chapter a night, sometimes two if they’re short, and sometimes half of one of they’re long. I do try to find natural stopping points, I can’t stand being in the middle.
I get both your perspectives. My wife listens to audiobooks at normal speed and enjoys it. I listen in sometimes, but my brain isn’t cut out for it.
I read much faster than most (all?) narration, but when I speed it up, it loses something. I did listen to podcasts at 1.5x speed at one point, and it helped, but podcasts aren’t exactly narrative driven.
In the end, I find I just prefer written material in most cases. It’s just easier for me to focus on.
My wife got me into audiobooks. We’re both avid readers, and wanted to read when we couldn’t read. My wife, however, cranks her shit up to 2x to consume, consume, consume, and chastises me for listening at normal speed. I want to enjoy what I’m reading, bask in the world building.
I tend to like 1.2x. I want to enjoy it, but audiobook narrators talk very slowly for clarity. If I listen that slow I tend to get distracted.
Honestly it really depends on how boring parts are. If it’s 1x speed for some content and highly predictable what they are going to say, I for some reason assume I know the rest of the sentence they will say, then use the “extra time” I just gained and let my mind wander. Then I miss the next sentence. So strangely, I can understand things better at a higher speed because it doesn’t give me time for that bad habit. Maybe she is like that too, finding she understands it better if she listens to it faster because it makes her focus better.
I disagree with you completely! Out of principle, I can’t do that, it’s practically skipping ahead!
I did uparrow you, because despite our opposite perspectives, I appreciate your contribution to the discussion.
Does she not pause audiobook to think about economic currency conversion rates in that fictional world?
I have some podcasts I’ll listen to at 1.2x speed but it’s usually because I’m trying to get it to properly fit a given drive. I have one relatively frequent drive that I can nicely fit 3 episodes of a daily podcast at 1.2x speed, but otherwise is too long for 2 episodes or too short for a third at 1x speed. For audiobooks though I stick with 1x so I can fully take in the content.
For reading I really only read in bed now, so it takes me about 2-4 weeks to finish a book usually
I agree with everything you said. Podcasts are shorter and so I don’t want to have 8 minutes left to finish later, because I just won’t. But I’m listening to 30-hour books, and I’m going to have a listen the way it’s meant to be listened to.
I also only read in bed, and I basically do a chapter a night, sometimes two if they’re short, and sometimes half of one of they’re long. I do try to find natural stopping points, I can’t stand being in the middle.
I get both your perspectives. My wife listens to audiobooks at normal speed and enjoys it. I listen in sometimes, but my brain isn’t cut out for it.
I read much faster than most (all?) narration, but when I speed it up, it loses something. I did listen to podcasts at 1.5x speed at one point, and it helped, but podcasts aren’t exactly narrative driven.
In the end, I find I just prefer written material in most cases. It’s just easier for me to focus on.
I only listen to 2x when I don’t need to connect/understand the information and just want to get the big picture.
I sometimes slow some narrators because they talk too fast!