youtube-dl is hella slow
If you use it without options that's correct. But as long as you prefix the youtube video you want to download with the -F option to get a list of format identifiers in the command prompt window and then add those to the string afterwards downloads take place in seconds. For example, the following command identifies all the formats available.
On the left hand side of the command prompt window you see either a two or a three figure number. Make a note of the ones that belong to the formats you want to download and then prefix those with a lowercase -f.
It's important to remember to use uppercase -F to
identify the formats and lowercase -f (together with the identifiers) to
download!
For example, the following command will download "The Cars - Whose gonna take you home" in about 5 seconds.
You'll also need to download FFmpeg from
here and place it in the same directory as the youtube-dl.exe because youtube separates audio and video streams. FFmpeg will merge both into a single video file and delete the two separate files.
If you only want audio, then just use the identifier for an M4A file.
If on the other hand you use the command: "youtube-dl.exe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6GiC28Dobk" (without quotes) then it'll take about 15 minutes to download and the quality won't be very good either (
I discovered that myself while learning how to use the tool).
If there's anything you don't understand please don't hesitate to ask.