Audiobook MP3 Speedup -

[RickeeBoy]

I am posting this as nothing is posted on Audiobook Speedup or Faster - and it works as a batch for a whole book.

I play Audiobooks but they are always spoken so slowly that this makes the book appear less exciting or humorous than they they really are, as one reads quicker than an Audiobook is read. I have found that if I increase the TEMPO by 20% ( You may want faster or slower) then this is about right. So I want to Import 1 file as MP3, Change Tempo, export as MP3 then do all files on the book in a batch process- on the whole book then my enjoyment is upped tremendously + I get through the books quicker
- This I've achieved on all files in a book as per the following : -

First you need to create a CHAIN (or small prog) which can work on each file in the book.

I found the EDIT CHAIN Command under FILE - and simply produced and EDITED a NEW CHAIN with 3 commands :-
1. CHANGE TEMPO 20.00 (Speeds it up )
2. SAVE AS MP3
3. END

Then under FILE ........... APPLY CHAIN ...(to FILES) then a whole book can be speeded up and enjoyed much more.

Then do a FILE / SAVE AS / TEMPO 20 and the CHAIN WILL ALWAYS BE THERE WHEN YOU GO BACK TO Audacity for another book

[steve]

Instead of "Change Tempo" you could also try "Truncate Silence" (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tr ... lence.html)
As Truncate Silence only acts on the spaces between words, you may find that the sound quality of the words is better this way so it may be more ineligible. You may find that "Change Tempo" works better on some books and "Truncate Silence" works better on others, so you could make two chains and use whichever works best for a particular book / reading style.

[RickeeBoy]

Brilliant Steve - You are too kind ... Many Thanks ..... I realise that Audacity is a prog for manipulation of Audio for mainly Music but I have found some definite increasing popularity of Audiobooks as Fitness has become a huge part of our lives (or travel or just using one's time profitably) and therefore any changes for Audiobooks will be appreciated ....

On listening to The Year 1000 Read by Sir Derek Jacobi .... I could hear no real difference on a 5min file with your "Truncate Silence" ( 4min 30seconds ) and my Speed Up Tempo 17.00 % ( 4min 16 seconds ) (it could easily have taken a higher Tempo)

I will see if I can try a couple of different choices and if any changes I'll come back to you.
Cheers
Rick

[RickeeBoy]

Steve - Your Truncated Silence seems to work the best and clarity is retained - ( This speeds it up a bit... ) :-
- Min Silence 100ms
- Max Silence 900ms
- Silence Compression 4
- Threshold -40db

Cheers
Rick

[RickeeBoy]

Steve,

Do you know of any further tips I could try to speed up Audiobooks ........ Plus
... Just to say Many Thanks and after trying "Truncated Silence" and Change Tempo for different books - I have found these of massive benefit.

Cheers.
Rick

[steve]

In Truncate Silence, try setting both the Max Silence and Min Silence to smaller values. I think the smallest allowed value is 1 millisecond.
These can be used in conjunction with Change Tempo.

Here is 1min 38 seconds of an audio book compressed to under 6.5 seconds (probably a little too extreme ):

test.ogg

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