I listen to a lot of podcasts during my commute, while traveling, and while running or walking. For me, this is a crucial activity to "feed my head" with data about topics I care about. If you like podcasts, but feel like you don't have enough time to keep up, I have a tip to make it more productive: Variable Speed Playback
Back in the day, I began listening to audio books on my iPod and discovered that the iPod had a built-in setting to allow me to adjust the playback speed of the books (you could slow it down, as well as speed it up). I began to enjoy the time-compression advantages of listening to the audiobooks faster (typically 1.5x) - after all, a 30-hour book suddenly became a 20-hour book - what's not to love?
Since then, Variable Speed Playback is a must-have feature for any podcast player I use.
Here are some additional tips and things I've learned about this:
- Not all time-compression algorithms are created equal. All of the variable-speed algorithms attempt to speed up the playback while maintaining the pitch of the voice so people don't sound like chipmunks. Some players use algorithms that are good at this, others suck at it - you have to try them out to find one that sounds 'natural enough' to you.
- If you are bothered by the faster voice rate, give it 3-5 minutes to settle in. Your brain will adjust and it will sound normal after a few minutes.
- My default playback rate is 1.5x, but there isn't a "one speed fits all" option. Some podcasters talk very slow, so you might need to go to 1.75x or 2x. Others talk very quickly, so you may not be able to speed them up at all - no biggie, you're being productive enough because they are loading you up with high-density information.
- Some podcasts are not well-suited for speedups - for example, those with a lot of music, or being presented by people with strong accents, or by groups of people with at least one "fast talker" in the bunch. You'll get to know which of your podcasts are accelerate able, and which aren't.
- Along the same lines, I prefer podcast players that can maintain a speed setting for each podcast so you don't have to adjust any time a new one starts.
- On iOS, I love Downcast (image on the left at the end of this post) - it has a default setting that works globally, as well as making it easy to define a local setting for each podcast. It also has a great variable speed algorithm that works well for a variety of podcast types.
- On Android, I like BeyondPod (image on the right at the end of this post) - it has a default setting globally, an easy way to adjust the playback speed on the fly (with pre-set rates, or an variable slider), as well as a great algorithm for variable speed playback. The only thing is lacks is the ability to remember the speed setting for each podcast individually - still on the hunt for that on Android in a player that isn't fatally flawed in some other way.
I've had a few folks who thought I was crazy when I recommended this, but several of them have come back telling me they are believers. By the way, I use sped-up playback with the Audible player for audiobooks - also a huge time saver.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Downcast for iOS
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BeyondPod for Android
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