Can I increase playback speed (ala VLC) while listening to MP3s on Clip?

Hello,

Most of my audio files on my clip are NOT music. Most of my audio files are “spoken-word” audio. These are audio files of people talking to each other, or giving speeches, or of reading a book. I would like to be able to increase playback speed of the audio, while keeping a normal pitch (no “chipmunk” voice).

VLC does this well. I can increase the playback speed of an audio file (or even a movie file), and VLC does its magic to keep every sound in regular pitch. (I’m mentioning VLC just to let you know of something I’m envisioning as a solution.)

My preference is that I’d be able to control playback speed on the clip. … To be able to go at 2X speed for a portion of an audio and then 1.50X for another portion. (I’m stating this preference upfront just in case someone suggests a “desktop computer” solution. A “desktop computer” solution is fine, but an on-the-fly change-playback-speed ability on the Clip would be better.)

Just to let you know, these audio files of mine are mostly regular MP3 files. A few are M4B (audiobook). A few are “podcast-genre” files. But most are just plain MP3 files.

How can I do this?

Thanks.
Message Edited by ginger on 03-20-2010 04:36 PM

“Most of my audio files on my clip are NOT music. Most of my audio files are “spoken-word” audio. These are audio files of people talking to each other, or giving speeches, or of reading a book. I would like to be able to increase playback speed of the audio, while keeping a normal pitch (no “chipmunk” voice).”

Sandisk players don’t do this. There is a fast and slow setting for audiobooks and podcasts, but it is only around 25% and no pitch correction. There are some other brands of mp3 players that do this to a limited degree, perhaps up to 1.4X, but I think the pitch correction may be a separate setting, and not automatic.

Some digital recorders have  variable speed playback with automatic pitch correction, but perhaps only from 0.5X to 1.5X. Make sure that they have this for both mp3 and wma if you need it. Some recorders only have this for wma or only for files recorded on the recorder. I too want variable speed playback on an mp3 player, and haven’t found a good solution. I want something that works like Windows Media Player, with 0.5x to 2 and automatic pitch correction.

If your Clip is a V1(firmware number starts with 01), then you could install Rockbox on the player. I have heard Rockbox does have variable speed playback. Rockbox is an alternative firmware for the player. I have never used Rockbox, so I can’t comment on how well it works. It is  available for the V1 clip, but not the V2 Clip.

Message Edited by JK98 on 03-20-2010 08:52 PM

jc98,

thanks for your posts. my clip is v1. Maybe I’ll try Rockbox, a program i’ve heard of many times before but have never used. If but for this playback-speed feauture, it’s worth a try.

According to http://www.rockbox.org

Rockbox runs on v1 Clip, but is incomplete, less usable or has problems that limit it to advanced users.

On an inner page, it says:

Rockbox runs on the Clipv1 and is generally stable enough to use. 

Time to give it a shot.

Message Edited by ginger on 03-20-2010 06:01 PM

Rockbox is great.

I was able to increase playback speed without any chipmunk voice. 

I enabled  TIMESTRETCH, which allows one to change playback speed wihtout it affecting the pitch of the recording.

Installation instructions for Sansa Clip v1 here: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SansaAMS#Installation\_for\_Stable\_e200v2\_F

Manual is here:

March 20, 2010
pdf 916 kB
html-zip 517 kB
online

Thank you, Rockbox!

Again, as nice as Rockbox can be, it still is in development and is not yet fully stable for the Clip, as the Rockbox webpage notes (please be sure to read that). It also consumes more battery power than the original Clip firmware.

It also is possible that if you use Rockbox, you will not be able to play DRM’ed files on your player in the future, even if Rockbox is removed (an earlier situation–unknown if this has been eliminated).  Again, be sure to read the Rockbox pages for the Sansa Clip and similar chip players.