Additional TTS Engines

[M. Schrijver]

There were some negative comments in the past about the default TTS voice. I wrote some of them.

I did a search for alternative TTS engines. There aren't that many TTS engine which can be used in MRA Next. But i found one which i like.

It is Acapela TTS Engine for Android. The app self is free but you must pay for each voice separate. A few Euro's
Because i'm Dutch, i bought the voice "Daan". This is a good voice.

This voice is a lot louder than the default TTS engine. The volume is more or less the same as Spotify. Besides this. The voice is also less mechanical/robotic.

[Nick Carthew]

@M-Schrijver Not forgetting that iOS users have several different voice options already installed on their iPhones. I use the Serena voice which is one of the premium voices.

[Con Hennekens]

@M-Schrijver, If those voices are louder, I definitely must check them, thanks!

@Nick-Carthew, I had a private discussion with @AlexvLeeuwen yesterday (because the topic was closed prematurely..) and understood that in IOS you can choose only 2 voices for Belgian Dutch. Can additional voices be installed in IOS?

[Nick Carthew]

@Con-Hennekens I have no idea if additional voices can be installed on iOS, there are more than enough English voices so I haven’t looked to install anymore.

[Skellum]

@M-Schrijver said in Additional TTS Engines:

There were some negative comments in the past about the default TTS voice. I wrote some of them.

I did a search for alternative TTS engines. There aren't that many TTS engine which can be used in MRA Next. But i found one which i like.

It is Acapela TTS Engine for Android. The app self is free but you must pay for each voice separate. A few Euro's
Because i'm Dutch, i bought the voice "Daan". This is a good voice.

This voice is a lot louder than the default TTS engine. The volume is more or less the same as Spotify. Besides this. The voice is also less mechanical/robotic.

Sounds good, I have an IOS phone and would be grateful to know how to add a new TTS voice of my choice to the MRA Next app for use in CarPlay? or is this only for use directly from the phone?
Thanks Tony

[Nick Carthew]

@Skellum On your iPhone: Settings > Accessibility > Spoken content > Voices. MRA uses your phone voice so you should hear the same on CarPlay.

[Con Hennekens]

@M-Schrijver said in Additional TTS Engines:

It is Acapela TTS Engine for Android. The app self is free but you must pay for each voice separate.

I installed Acapela, but the demo voices don't work.

[Skellum]

@Nick-Carthew Thank you for that Nick, I can see that I can change the voice my iPhone uses (Siri etc) but that doesn't seem to change the choice I have on the MRA Next app - there are choices within the app but they do not seem to relate to the iPhone voice I have chosen?

[Nick Carthew]

@Skellum I chose Serena (premium) from my iPhone voices. Once you have chosen your voice, go to Navigation settings > Audio > Voice and then scroll down the list and select your chosen iPhone voice.

[Dave J 0]

@M-Schrijver Good call on this TTS engine. Downloaded the app and a couple of voices. So much better on my Google Pixel 6 Pro. Thank you for the suggestion.

[M. Schrijver]

@Con-Hennekens
You can only use the demo voices in the Acapela app. So can listen and play a bit with some settings. If you buy a voice, you can use it in other app.
It is a bit of a gamble.

[Corjan Meijerink]

Greatly appreciate you sharing this! @M-Schrijver

[Con Hennekens]

@M-Schrijver, The app shows me this:

I pressed the play button and it starts circling but not any of the voices are audible. On their website some voices are demoed:
https://www.acapela-group.com/demos/

Also I see that most voices are € 4,99 except Thijs en Merel, they go for € 11,99 but both are not in the demo. I guess they are the sexy ones...

[Dave J 0]

@Con-Hennekens Like you, I pressed the button in the app (Google Pixel 6 Pro) and the voices played as demo as the circle turned with no problems. That was all languages and all samples.

[Con Hennekens]

@Dave-J-0, good to know. Strange though
(yes I have the volume up )

[Skellum]

@Nick-Carthew Thank you Nick, all sorted now with Kate (enhanced) cheers Tony

[Nick Carthew]

@Skellum Your welcome, happy to help.

[Stephane 30]

Hi, I bought Rachel (English voice) and took her out for a ride today. Loud and clear - a huge improvement!
The original MRA voice is too timid and not loud enough.
Thanks for the suggestion.

[Con Hennekens]

On my other phone (the rugged one I actually use on the bike) I was able to play the demo voices indeed. They do seem to be a bit louder indeed, but the Dutch voices are really ugly (3 of them are childs voices). The default Google TTS is much clearer and smoother in my opinion. I never understood why some people call it "robotic". That's definitely not the case on any phone I used (quite a few).

[M. Schrijver]

Did a nice ride last saturday.
Filtsmeister does use the default Android voice. Sometimes Flitsmeister did give some info (it runs in the background). It was a good comparisson with the Acapela voice "Daan" which is set in MRA.
What a difference in favour of "Daan" Louder and less robotic/metalic

What is a robotic voice? This a typical example of a robotic voice (female):
https://youtu.be/yHdemBdvRIo?si=duWDWleqc7P8b-Qs&t=84
At least for me. The default google TTS voice sounds very similiar (to me)
The voice synthesizer of Stephen Hawkins is probably the best known "robotic" voice.