Announcing OpenAI text-to-speech voices on Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Speech

Microsoft

Feb 06, 2024

At OpenAI DevDay on November 6^th 2023, OpenAI announced a new text-to-speech (TTS) model that offers 6 preset voices to choose from, in their standard format as well as their respective high-definition (HD) equivalents. Today, we are excited to announce that we are bringing those models in preview to Azure. Developers can now access OpenAI's TTS voices through Azure OpenAI and Azure AI Speech services. Each of the 6 voices has its own personality and style. The standard voices models are optimized for real-time use cases, and the HD equivalents are optimized for quality.

These new TTS voices augment capabilities, such as building custom voices and avatars, already available in Azure AI and allow customers to build entirely new experiences across customer support, training videos, live-streaming and more.

This capability allows developers to give human-like voices to chatbots, audiobook or article narration, translation across multiple languages, content creation for games and offers much-needed assistance to the visually impaired.

Click here to see these voices in action:

The new voices will support a wide range of languages from Afrikaans to Welsh, and the service can cater to diverse linguistic needs. For a complete list of supported languages, please follow this link.

The table below shows the 6 preset voices:

Voice	Sample Text	Sample Language (s)	Sample Audio
Alloy	The world is full of beauty when your heart is full of love. Le monde est plein de beauté quand votre cœur est plein d’amour.	English- French	Standard: HD:
Echo	Well, John, that's very kind of you to invite me to your quarters. I'm flattered that you want to spend more time with me. Des efforts de collaboration entre les pays sont nécessaires pour lutter contre le changement climatique, protéger les océans et préserver les écosystèmes fragiles.	English - French	Standard: HD:
Fable	Success is not the key to happiness, but happiness is the key to success. Erfolg ist nicht der Schlüssel zum Glück, aber Glück ist der Schlüssel zum Erfolg.	English - German	Standard: HD:
Onyx	Conserving water resources through efficient usage and implementing responsible water management practices is crucial, especially in regions prone to drought and water scarcity. Die Einführung nachhaltiger Praktiken in unserem täglichen Leben, wie z. B. die Einsparung von Wasser und Energie, die Auswahl umweltfreundlicher Produkte und die Reduzierung unseres CO2-Fußabdrucks, kann erhebliche positive Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt haben.	English - German	Standard: HD:
Nova	Success is not the key to happiness, but happiness is the key to success. El éxito no es la clave de la felicidad, pero la felicidad es la clave del éxito.	English - Spanish	Standard: HD:
Shimmer	In this moment, I realized that amid the chaos of life, tranquility and peace can always be found. 人生は、一度きりのチャンスです。失敗しても、次に向けて立ち上がりましょう。	English - Japanese	Standard: HD:

In addition to making these voices available in Azure OpenAI Service, customers will also find them in the Azure AI Speech with the added support for Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) SDK.