Hmm, I have only recently started listening to audiobooks, and haven't listened to that many as of yet, so I can't really tell at this point. I'd like to hear other people's opinion on this though, so that maybe I can make some better selections in the future?

From the ones I've listened to so far though, I'm a bit biased toward male narrators. The one book I listened to which had a female narrator was sort of really bad. Maybe I was just unlucky though.

For me the accent is important .For instance a regency book should sound like one or a texan drawl must be genuine. The male or female is not so important if the reader can do different voices and charge them with the correct inflections and emotions. Needless to say those that are monotone need not apply.

as long as the voice is clear doesn't bother me

i don't know why i have this bias, but i can't listen to an audiobook with a male voice. maybe it's because i primarily listen to romances, and i can't quite conceive a male voice reading the sex scenes (lol). also, i don't think male voices can do the female characters as well as female voices can do male characters.

I don't mind either just as long as their voice isn't mono-tone. The older audio books are like that.

Sometimes a female voice imitating a child can be pretty cringe worthy.

I almost strictly listen to female narrators. I'm also pretty picky when it comes to female narrators. I hate when they have an older female narrate a YA novel. Or monotone voices. Most of the lead male narrators annoy me.

I have several audio books where they use two Narrators, 1 Male, 1 Female, That really helps to make a book sound real.

wouldn't mind a sexy female voice though

I prefer a male voice when the book is a classic, say "The Count of Monte Cristo" et similia. While for lighter stuff, I definitely prefer a female voice. What sometimes can spoil the fun is the wrong accent. Please do not take offence for what I'm going to write as in no way I mean to be rude or anything but a voice with a very strong American accent reading a Regency novel (or Victorian, whatever...) truly ruins it all for me. IMHO, the accent itself adds a special vibe when you're listening to an audiobook, it somehow gives "body" to the whole narration and if you have to deal with the wrong one (the accent, I mean), well... it can be a little frustrating. It's like a fine piece played by bad actors. I'm sure some can agree with me.

I'm not usually that bothered but if the book has a first person narrative I find it jars when the gender of the reader doesn't match that of the character. I was listening to a Libravox recording of "My Father the Cat" read by a woman and the bit where the character comments on his wife's body was distinctly odd

Me too.... I enjoy female voice more... Charlaine Harris is doing a nice job on the Southern Vampire Mysteries "Sookie Stackhouse" ... check it out

both if possible. i dont like male voices doing female voices.

I prefer female voice for female parts and male for male parts. I do not like it when a female does male voices. It somehow makes the male lead feminine.

As English is my third language male voice is somehow easier to listen to. Female narrator sounds to squeaky to decipher, especially when listening on the go or in transport (as I usually d.
Maybe because male voice is lower and thus is easier to hear...

I don't much care if it's male or female, as long as they are into the story and don't make it sound like a robot is reading it. Monotone people sould not do audio books

I think it definitely depends on if the story is told in the male or female perspective. However more importantly is regardless of the male or female voice, the reader has to be believable. As mentioned above, its just not as good if they just read the book, but if they "Act" the book it makes for a great read. The best so far has got to be the Sookie Stackhouse series in Audio. My god that women is fantastic. Her name is Johanna Parker and her voices for each character are so believable that it just pulls you right in. Not only does she have the voices down, but the sarcasm, and mood of the characters.

Doesn't matter to me...I don't even care if they have the wrong accent just as long as they're not monotone, the words are clear and doesn't read too fast or too slow.

I'm hard of hearing so I had thought for a while that it didn't really matter, so long as the voice was clear and easy to understand. I just listened to my first romance read by a male, however, and ... it just doesn't work for me. With women, I have about a chapter of giggling whenever they deepen their voices, then I just lose myself in the story. With the one male reader, I often couldn't tell when he'd switched from a male to female when speaking.

I agree with some of the previous posts. For me, if I read a novel with a female narrative, as I am a guy, the best I can hope to achieve is a ‘gender neutral voice’ in my mind. However, the Audiobooks definitely have an advantage where in a female perspective book (for e.g. Sookie Stackhouse series) can voice-act the part much more convincingly with subtle inflection of the voice, modulation, tone-pitch variation and intonation.
Overall, I think a female narrator for a female central character and male for the opposite works well.
Geographically correct accent (southern, Irish, Indian accent etc.) is a part of what makes a reader more believable, English is my second language and I accept a non-native speaker can not make it truly special with a neutral accent.