diff --git a/dejavu/decode.py b/dejavu/decode.py
index 0304b08..f578c0e 100644
--- a/dejavu/decode.py
+++ b/dejavu/decode.py
@@ -15,9 +15,22 @@ def find_files(path, extensions):
                 yield (p, extension)
 
 
-def read(filename):
+def read(filename, limit=None):
+    """
+    Reads any file supported by pydub (ffmpeg) and returns the data contained
+    within.
+
+    Can be optionally limited to a certain amount of seconds from the start
+    of the file by specifying the `limit` parameter. This is the amount of
+    seconds from the start of the file.
+
+    returns: (samplerate, channels)
+    """
     audiofile = AudioSegment.from_file(filename)
 
+    if limit:
+        audiofile = audiofile[:limit * 1000]
+
     data = np.fromstring(audiofile._data, np.int16)
 
     channels = []