Deprecating and removing 17 lower quality voices
We’re planning to remove 17 voices at the end of the year. Switch now to better alternatives.
Read the details below to learn which voices are being removed, and what you can use instead.
- Why are the voices being removed?
- What voices are affected?
- When are the voices being removed?
- What you should do if you are currently using one of these voices
- Will there be a replacement for the voices?
- Need more information?
Why are the voices being removed?
Text to speech technology is rapidly developing, and our voice partners and providers sometimes go through technology upgrades. One of our voice providers notified us that they are removing lower quality voices from their service, and planning to replace them with a different technology that produces higher quality output. This affects 17 voices that Narakeet currently offers to our users.
What voices are affected?
The following voices will be removed in the near future, and are no longer recommended for use.
| Voice | Language – Accent |
|---|---|
| Abbie | English – Australian |
| Amir | Arabic |
| Bingbing | Chinese – Mandarin |
| Dave | English – Australian |
| Doutzen | Dutch |
| Geert | Dutch – Flemish |
| Hugh | English – Australian |
| Hye-kyo | Korean |
| Jeroen | Dutch |
| Jong-suk | Korean |
| Karolina | Czech |
| Katrijn | Dutch – Flemish |
| Shin-hye | Korean |
| Ulrika | Swedish |
| Woo-bin | Korean |
| Yifeng | Chinese – Mandarin |
| Yihan | Chinese – Mandarin |
When are the voices being removed?
- The voices will stay available until 31 December 2022 for web site and API usage
- on 1 January 2023, the voices will no longer be available on the web site, but will stay available for API usage
- The voices will stay available for API usage only until 31 March 2023
- on 1 April 2023 the voices will no longer be available for API usage.
We hope this provides enough time for all users to switch to an alternative voice.
What you should do if you are currently using one of these voices
The voices will remain active on the web site for a while, so you do not have to update your materials immediately.
If you are using one of the affected voices to create audio or video materials using the Narakeet web site, we recommend selecting an alternative voice over the next month or two and then switching to the new voice before the end of the year.
If you are using one of the affected voices in automated conversions, through the API or command line tools, you should update the source code and materials before 31 March 2023 to use an alternative voice.
Will there be a replacement for the voices?
We already offer plenty of good replacements, in some cases with much better quality. Check out the Text to Speech Voice List to listen to alternative voices and choose a good replacement.
Over the last twelve months, we’ve doubled the number of realistic text to speech voices available on the platform, and expanded to many new languages. We plan to keep adding new voices, both to replace the deprecated ones, and to enable users to build content for more territories and wider audiences.
Need more information?
If you need assistance choosing an alternative voice, need more information about this change or want to discuss your options, please get in touch with contact@narakeet.com. We’d be happy to help.
Narakeet helps you create text to speech voiceovers, turn Powerpoint presentations and Markdown scripts into engaging videos. It is under active development, so things change frequently. Keep up to date: RSS, Slack, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok