Text To Speech - My New Toy!
Hi, fellow WAers! This will be short and sweet. It's about a technology that you might have heard of: TTS (text to speech). Our websites will become richer, more engaging, and cool!
I've been using TTS for many years, to create audio for my videos with zero cost.
A couple of years ago I started adding Play buttons for audio in my mobile websites and the result is remarkable:
- Improved session duration
- Less bounce rate
- Better user experience
I'm not showing a detailed statistic but if many of you show interest on this topic, I'll create an A/B testing for similar pages hosted on the same website and drive paid traffic to get a significant amount of visits to analyze.
I've been using Amazon Polly to create mp3 files for my pages but recently I found Google TTS yields better results, so let me share an example:
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You all know this text, right?
Play this audio (Google TTS) or Play this audio (Amazon Polly)
TTS natural voices are getting better. Which one sounds more natural?
If you are interested in knowing how I created these mp3 files, comment below and I'll ask my friend @FranCallado to post a tutorial on my behalf (I still need to wait in the freezer another 6 weeks)
Please share this post. If I get at least 10 people interested I'll polish my draft tutorial for either Amazon or Google depending on your preferences.
Have a great day!
Recent Comments
76
Both interesting. That’s why I didn’t choose.
With one variable constant, same volume on my iPhone:
Google-Louder and clearer with a higher pitch but sounds much more with passion and enthusiasm!
Amazon-Softer but still audible yet sounds gentle and soothing.
I do not know if it is due to my iPhone but don’t think so.
I prefer Google, as it is more passionate! :o)
I noticed those variations too, Terand :)
Amazon sounded very soft, whereas Google sounded more sharp.
Good afternoon Richard,
Your post ignited a little discussion here.
I say Google is more crisp and clear. Michael says it sounds like a computer generated voice and he would shut it off.
I did not like the Amazon one as the words were not so clear and there was a slight echo to it.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
I like Google too. It's a little bit tricky to get an MP3 (it's a WAV file) from Google, but it can be done.
Thanks, Taestske
Hi Richard - awesome! Yes, more please!
When I heard people talking about TTS on websites I thought it was a gizmo you put on your site that would automatically read the page. I haven't done much - ok, any! - research on that but I do have a Chrome extension called Read & Write that will read a web page and highlight the text as it goes. It has locked up a couple of times though, and it ocassionally repeats itself repeats itself :-) but it's still pretty cool.
While looking into TTS I found one site with a VERY realistic voice but you have to pay for it. Can't remember which one it was now as I was looking for a freebie.
Ian
That's a toughie! Audio 2 is more sibillant which would grate after a while and is not quite so clear so for me it's Audio 1!
Ian
Amazon is robotic and metalic. I’m not going to use this, too complex for me, but I like to see a sample in Spanish.
Lo has hecho de nuevo...
Te hago una con Placido Domingo? jajaja
I haven't tried other languages, there are many available, but WA is mainly English, so I might add US English, British English, and Australian English if I post a tutorial.
Abrazo!
Interesting post. Like you say TTS has been getting better over the years. It was awful up until fairly recently!
For me the Google TTS is the more natural, the Amazon one still sounds to robotic.
With advances in technology I am sure we are not far away from TTS being the same as actual human voice.
Would love to know more
Hi, Jonathan!
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you.
I used Amazon Polly for many tts-mp3 audios because it was the best synthesizer available (after researching tens of them)
But recently I found GCP and it's a different beast.
Please share this post. If I get at least 10 people interested I'll polish my draft tutorial for either Amazon or Google depending on their preferences.
See more comments
Thank you Richard. Sounds interesting and will be trying TTS in the near future.
I guess you like Google, right, Michael? It's a little more complex because I can show you how to download WAV, but then it needs to be converted to MP3 for websites. Adding audio to any page is a piece of cake.
Cheers