docs/landing: update for 0.4.0 — new engines, GPU docs, donate button, voice docs restructure

Docs:
- Add gpu-acceleration.mdx (all 9 platform/GPU combos, CUDA backend swap, Blackwell, XPU, troubleshooting)
- Add preset-voices.mdx (Kokoro 50 voices, Qwen CustomVoice 9 voices, instruct mode docs)
- Restructure voice-cloning.mdx to cover all 5 cloning engines with comparison table
- Restructure creating-voice-profiles.mdx around cloned vs preset workflows
- Update voice-profiles.mdx schema with voice_type discriminator, preset/design columns

Landing:
- Add 3 new engine cards (Qwen CustomVoice, HumeAI TADA, Kokoro) to Multi-Engine section
- Add Donate button (Buy Me a Coffee) to navbar and footer
- Add DONATE_URL constant

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]>
This commit is contained in:
James Pine
2026-04-16 19:51:43 -07:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 4.6
parent 625e1ba549
commit 67bf8e906a
11 changed files with 784 additions and 163 deletions
+37 -10
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@@ -5,17 +5,22 @@ description: "How voice profile management works in Voicebox"
## Overview
Voice profiles are the foundation of Voicebox's voice cloning capability. Each profile stores reference audio samples and metadata that the TTS model uses to clone a voice.
Voice profiles are the unit of "a saved voice" in Voicebox. As of 0.4 they support two flavors backed by the same `profiles` table:
- **Cloned profiles** — store one or more reference audio samples; the cloning engine generates a voice embedding at use time
- **Preset profiles** — store no audio; just a pointer to an engine-specific pre-built voice (e.g. Kokoro's `am_adam`, Qwen CustomVoice's `Ryan`)
The schema also reserves a third type, `designed`, for future text-described voices. Not currently used by any shipped engine.
## Architecture
The voice profile system consists of three main components:
**Database Layer:** SQLite tables store profile metadata and sample references.
**Database Layer:** SQLite tables store profile metadata, sample references (cloned), and engine + voice ID (preset).
**File Storage:** Audio samples are stored on disk in a structured directory format.
**File Storage:** Audio samples are stored on disk in a structured directory format. Preset profiles have no on-disk audio.
**Profile Module:** The `profiles.py` module provides the business logic for CRUD operations.
**Profile Module:** `backend/services/profiles.py` provides the business logic for CRUD operations and dispatches to the appropriate engine based on `voice_type`.
## Data Model
@@ -24,27 +29,49 @@ The voice profile system consists of three main components:
```python
class VoiceProfile(Base):
__tablename__ = "profiles"
id = Column(String, primary_key=True)
id = Column(String, primary_key=True, default=lambda: str(uuid.uuid4()))
name = Column(String, unique=True, nullable=False)
description = Column(Text)
language = Column(String, default="en")
created_at = Column(DateTime)
updated_at = Column(DateTime)
avatar_path = Column(String, nullable=True)
effects_chain = Column(Text, nullable=True)
# Voice type system — added v0.3.x
voice_type = Column(String, default="cloned") # "cloned" | "preset" | "designed"
preset_engine = Column(String, nullable=True) # e.g. "kokoro" — only for preset
preset_voice_id = Column(String, nullable=True) # e.g. "am_adam" — only for preset
design_prompt = Column(Text, nullable=True) # text description — only for designed (reserved)
default_engine = Column(String, nullable=True) # auto-selected engine, locked for preset
created_at = Column(DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow)
updated_at = Column(DateTime, default=datetime.utcnow, onupdate=datetime.utcnow)
```
The `voice_type` column discriminates the three flavors:
| `voice_type` | `preset_engine` | `preset_voice_id` | Samples in `profile_samples` |
| ------------ | --------------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `cloned` | NULL | NULL | Required (≥1 row) |
| `preset` | engine name | voice ID string | None |
| `designed` | NULL | NULL | None (uses `design_prompt`) |
The `default_engine` column is set automatically when the profile is created. For preset profiles it's locked to the source engine — switching engines at generation time will skip the profile (and the UI auto-switches back when the user clicks a greyed-out card; see the floating generate box and profile grid).
### ProfileSample Table
```python
class ProfileSample(Base):
__tablename__ = "profile_samples"
id = Column(String, primary_key=True)
id = Column(String, primary_key=True, default=lambda: str(uuid.uuid4()))
profile_id = Column(String, ForeignKey("profiles.id"))
audio_path = Column(String, nullable=False)
reference_text = Column(Text, nullable=False)
```
Only populated for cloned profiles. Preset and designed profiles have zero rows in this table.
## File Structure
Profiles are stored in the data directory:
@@ -1,32 +1,43 @@
---
title: "Creating Voice Profiles"
description: "Advanced guide to creating high-quality voice profiles"
description: "How to create voice profiles, both cloning-based and preset-based"
---
## Overview
Voice profiles are the foundation of voice cloning in Voicebox. This guide covers best practices for creating professional-quality voice profiles.
A **voice profile** is a saved voice you can reuse across generations, stories, and the API. As of 0.4, Voicebox profiles come in two flavors that map to two different ways of getting a voice:
## Quick Start
| Profile type | What it stores | Use when… |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Cloned** | One or more reference audio samples + a voice embedding | You want to replicate a specific person's voice |
| **Preset** | A reference to a pre-built voice in a specific engine | You want a curated, production-ready voice with no audio prep |
Both types live in the same Profiles tab and behave the same way at generation time — pick the type that matches your goal and follow the workflow below.
<Callout type="info">
Not sure which to use? Cloning gives you a *specific* voice but needs clean audio. Preset gives you *good* voices instantly but you don't get to choose who they sound like.
</Callout>
## Workflow A — Cloned Profiles
Use this when you want to replicate a specific person's voice from a recording.
<Steps>
<Step title="Prepare Audio">
10-30 seconds of clear speech
10-30 seconds of clear speech, minimal background noise. See [Voice Cloning](/overview/voice-cloning) for the engine catalog.
</Step>
<Step title="Create Profile">
**Profiles** → **+ New Profile**
**Profiles** → **+ New Profile** → choose a cloning engine (Qwen3-TTS, Chatterbox, LuxTTS, or TADA)
</Step>
<Step title="Upload Sample">
Add your audio file
<Step title="Upload or Record Sample">
Drag in an audio file, or record directly with the in-app recorder
</Step>
<Step title="Generate">
Use the profile to generate speech
<Step title="Generate to Test">
Use the profile to generate a test phrase. If quality is poor, add more samples
</Step>
</Steps>
## Audio Requirements
### Ideal Sample Characteristics
### Audio Requirements (Cloning Only)
<Cards>
<Card title="Duration">
@@ -44,7 +55,7 @@ Voice profiles are the foundation of voice cloning in Voicebox. This guide cover
<Card title="Quality">
**High fidelity**
44.1kHz or 48kHz sample rate
44.1 kHz or 48 kHz sample rate
Minimal compression
</Card>
<Card title="Content">
@@ -58,18 +69,16 @@ Voice profiles are the foundation of voice cloning in Voicebox. This guide cover
### File Formats
Supported formats:
- **WAV** (recommended) - Lossless quality
- **MP3** - Acceptable, minimal compression
- **M4A** - Acceptable
- **FLAC** - Lossless alternative
- **WAV** (recommended) Lossless quality
- **MP3** Acceptable, minimal compression
- **M4A** Acceptable
- **FLAC** Lossless alternative
<Callout type="info">
Use WAV for best results. Avoid heavily compressed formats.
</Callout>
## Recording Tips
### Environment
### Recording Tips
<AccordionGroup>
<Accordion title="Quiet Space">
@@ -87,27 +96,25 @@ Supported formats:
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Recording Settings">
- 44.1kHz or 48kHz sample rate
- 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz sample rate
- 16-bit or 24-bit depth
- Mono is fine (stereo will be converted)
- Avoid automatic gain control
</Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>
### Speaking
### Speaking Style
- **Natural pace** - Don't rush or speak too slowly
- **Clear articulation** - Pronounce words clearly
- **Consistent volume** - Maintain steady loudness
- **Normal tone** - Speak as you normally would
- **Complete sentences** - Avoid fragments or "ums"
- **Natural pace** Don't rush or speak too slowly
- **Clear articulation** Pronounce words clearly
- **Consistent volume** Maintain steady loudness
- **Normal tone** Speak as you normally would
- **Complete sentences** Avoid fragments or "ums"
## Multiple Samples
### Multiple Samples
Adding multiple samples can significantly improve quality:
### Why Multiple Samples?
<Cards>
<Card title="Robustness">
Model learns a more complete representation
@@ -123,110 +130,57 @@ Adding multiple samples can significantly improve quality:
</Card>
</Cards>
### Sample Variety
Consider adding samples with:
1. **Different tones**
- Casual conversation
- Professional/formal
- Excited/enthusiastic
- Calm/serious
2. **Different content**
- Narratives
- Questions
- Statements
- Emotions (happy, sad, neutral)
3. **Different recording conditions**
- Studio quality
- Phone call quality (if needed)
- Room acoustics
1. **Different tones** — casual, formal, excited, calm
2. **Different content** — narratives, questions, statements
3. **Different recording conditions** — studio quality, room acoustics
<Callout type="warn">
All samples should be from the **same speaker**. Mixing voices will produce poor results.
</Callout>
## Processing Existing Audio
### Processing Existing Audio
If you have existing audio (podcasts, videos, etc.):
### Extracting Clean Segments
<Steps>
<Step title="Find Clean Speech">
Look for segments with:
- Just the target speaker
- No background music
- Minimal noise
Look for segments with just the target speaker, no background music, minimal noise
</Step>
<Step title="Use Audio Editor">
Tools like Audacity or Adobe Audition:
- Cut out clean 10-30s segments
- Remove silence at start/end
- Normalize volume if needed
Tools like Audacity or Adobe Audition: cut clean 10-30s segments, remove silence at start/end, normalize volume
</Step>
<Step title="Export as WAV">
Save as high-quality WAV file
</Step>
</Steps>
### Noise Reduction
For light background noise, use Audacity's noise reduction (gentle settings — over-processing introduces artifacts).
If you have light background noise:
### Testing & Iteration
```
1. Use noise reduction in Audacity:
- Select noise-only section
- Get Noise Profile
- Select full audio
- Apply noise reduction (gentle settings)
2. Avoid over-processing:
- Can introduce artifacts
- May reduce voice quality
```
## Testing & Iteration
### Test Your Profile
After creating a profile:
After creating a cloned profile:
<Steps>
<Step title="Generate Test">
Generate a simple phrase:
```
"Hello, this is a test of my voice profile."
```
Try a simple phrase: `"Hello, this is a test of my voice profile."`
</Step>
<Step title="Evaluate Quality">
Listen for:
- Natural tone
- Clear pronunciation
- Proper prosody
- Lack of artifacts
Listen for natural tone, clear pronunciation, proper prosody, lack of artifacts
</Step>
<Step title="Iterate">
If quality is poor:
- Add more samples
- Try different source audio
- Check sample quality
If quality is poor: add more samples, try different source audio, check sample quality
</Step>
</Steps>
### Common Issues
#### Common Issues
<AccordionGroup>
<Accordion title="Robotic Voice">
**Cause**: Poor quality samples or too short
**Fix**: Use longer, higher quality samples
**Fix**: Use longer, higher-quality samples
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Wrong Tone">
@@ -242,51 +196,89 @@ After creating a profile:
</Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>
## Workflow B — Preset Profiles
Use this when you want a ready-made voice without recording anything. Available engines: **Kokoro 82M** (50 voices) and **Qwen CustomVoice** (9 voices). See [Preset Voices](/overview/preset-voices) for the full catalog.
<Steps>
<Step title="Create Profile">
**Profiles** → **+ New Profile** → choose **Kokoro** or **Qwen CustomVoice** as the engine
</Step>
<Step title="Pick a Voice">
The engine's voice catalog appears. Click any voice to preview it
</Step>
<Step title="Name and Save">
Give the profile a name. No audio sample required
</Step>
<Step title="Generate">
The profile is ready immediately — use it in the floating generate box or Generate page
</Step>
</Steps>
<Callout type="info">
Preset profiles are **locked to their source engine**. Switching to a different engine in the floating generate box greys out the profile, since the voice only exists in that engine. Clicking a greyed profile auto-switches the engine back.
</Callout>
### Qwen CustomVoice + Instruct
Preset voices in Qwen CustomVoice support **delivery instructions** — natural-language style control over tone, pace, and emotion. The floating generate box shows a slider icon next to the generate button when a Qwen CustomVoice profile is selected; click it to reveal the instruct textarea.
See [Preset Voices → Using Instruct Mode](/overview/preset-voices#using-instruct-mode) for examples.
## Advanced Tips
### Celebrity/Character Voices
### Celebrity / Character Voices (Cloning)
For cloning public figures or characters:
1. **Legal considerations** - Ensure you have rights or it's fair use
2. **Source quality** - Find high-quality interview audio or clean clips
3. **Consistency** - Use clips where they speak similarly
4. **Multiple samples** - Very important for recognizable voices
1. **Legal considerations** Ensure you have rights or it's clearly fair use
2. **Source quality** Find high-quality interview audio or clean clips
3. **Consistency** Use clips where they speak similarly
4. **Multiple samples** Very important for recognizable voices
### Accent & Dialect
### Accent & Dialect (Cloning)
The model will preserve accent and dialect:
Cloning models preserve accent and dialect:
- British English will generate British English
- Southern accent will produce Southern accent
- Regional pronunciations will be maintained
- British English samples generate British English output
- Southern accent samples produce Southern accent output
- Regional pronunciations are maintained
### Emotion Transfer
### Emotion Transfer (Cloning)
The emotional tone of samples affects generation:
- Energetic samples → Energetic output
- Calm samples → Calm output
- Mix samples for versatile profile
- Energetic samples → energetic output
- Calm samples → calm output
- Mix samples for a more versatile profile
For Qwen CustomVoice presets, use the **instruct** field instead of relying on sample emotion — that's exactly what it controls.
## Managing Profiles
### Organization
- **Descriptive names** - "John Smith - Professional Narrator"
- **Add descriptions** - Note recording conditions, use cases
- **Language tags** - Mark the primary language
- **Archive unused** - Keep profile list manageable
- **Descriptive names** "John Smith - Professional Narrator"
- **Add descriptions** Note recording conditions, use cases, or which preset voice
- **Language tags** Mark the primary language
- **Archive unused** Keep profile list manageable
### Export/Import
### Export / Import
- **Export** profiles to share or backup
- **Import** from colleagues or teammates
- Profiles include voice embeddings, not original audio
- **Cloned profiles** export with their voice embeddings (not the original audio)
- **Preset profiles** export as engine + voice ID metadata only — the importer must have that engine's model installed
## Next Steps
<Cards>
<Card title="Voice Cloning" href="/overview/voice-cloning">
Engine catalog and best practices for cloning
</Card>
<Card title="Preset Voices" href="/overview/preset-voices">
Full catalog of Kokoro and Qwen CustomVoice voices
</Card>
<Card title="Generate Speech" href="/overview/generating-speech">
Use your profile to generate speech
</Card>
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
---
title: "GPU Acceleration"
description: "How Voicebox uses your GPU — auto-detection, manual setup, troubleshooting"
---
## Overview
Voicebox auto-detects available accelerators on first launch and picks the fastest backend it can use. For most people this just works — open the app and you're already on the right backend.
This page is for the cases where it doesn't:
- You have a GPU but Voicebox is running on CPU
- You upgraded GPUs (especially to RTX 50-series / Blackwell) and generation broke
- You want to switch backends manually (e.g. force MLX over PyTorch on Apple Silicon)
- You see `[UNSUPPORTED - see logs]` next to your GPU in Settings
## Backend Matrix
| Platform | Auto-selected backend | Notes |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **macOS Apple Silicon** | MLX (Metal) | 4-5x faster than PyTorch via Apple Neural Engine |
| **macOS Intel** | PyTorch CPU | No GPU acceleration available; PyTorch ≥ 2.2 only |
| **Windows + NVIDIA** | PyTorch CUDA (cu128) | Auto-downloads the CUDA backend binary on first use |
| **Windows + Intel Arc** | PyTorch XPU (IPEX) | New in 0.4 — works with Arc A-series and B-series |
| **Windows generic GPU** | DirectML | Universal Windows GPU support; slower than CUDA |
| **Linux + NVIDIA** | PyTorch CUDA (cu128) | Same auto-download flow as Windows |
| **Linux + AMD** | PyTorch ROCm | Auto-configures `HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION` |
| **Linux + Intel Arc** | PyTorch XPU (IPEX) | |
| **Any (no GPU)** | PyTorch CPU | Works everywhere; expect 5-50x slower than GPU |
The detected backend is shown in Settings → GPU. Logs at startup also print the chosen backend and the device name.
## Apple Silicon — MLX vs PyTorch
On M-series Macs, Voicebox ships an MLX-optimized backend that uses the Apple Neural Engine. It's **4-5x faster** than the PyTorch (CPU/Metal) path for supported engines.
| Engine | MLX support | Notes |
| -------------------- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Qwen3-TTS | ✅ Native | Uses MLX exclusively when available |
| Chatterbox / Turbo | PyTorch MPS | Falls back to Metal via PyTorch |
| LuxTTS | PyTorch MPS | |
| TADA | PyTorch MPS | |
| Kokoro | PyTorch MPS | Requires `PYTORCH_ENABLE_MPS_FALLBACK=1` |
| Qwen CustomVoice | PyTorch MPS | |
| Whisper (transcribe) | ✅ Native | MLX-Whisper is the default on Apple Silicon |
The Whisper Turbo + MLX combo dropped transcription latency from ~20s to ~2-3s on M-series chips (see CHANGELOG entry for v0.1.10).
## Windows / Linux + NVIDIA — The CUDA Backend Swap
Voicebox doesn't bundle CUDA into the main installer (it would balloon downloads to multi-gigabyte territory for users who don't have an NVIDIA GPU). Instead, when you first need it, the app downloads a separate **CUDA backend binary** that contains the PyTorch + CUDA runtime.
<Steps>
<Step title="Open Settings → GPU">
If an NVIDIA GPU is detected, you'll see "Install CUDA backend" in the GPU panel
</Step>
<Step title="Click Install">
The app downloads two archives separately:
- **Server core** (~200-400 MB) — versioned with each Voicebox release
- **CUDA libs** (~4 GB) — the heavy PyTorch + CUDA DLLs, versioned independently
</Step>
<Step title="Restart">
Voicebox restarts to swap in the CUDA backend
</Step>
</Steps>
<Callout type="info">
The split-archive design (added in v0.4) means most Voicebox upgrades only redownload the small server-core archive. The 4 GB libs archive is only refreshed when the underlying CUDA toolkit or torch major version changes.
</Callout>
### Auto-update
When a new Voicebox release ships, the GPU panel checks if the bundled server-core matches the installed CUDA version. If only the core changed (typical), it pulls the new core in the background. If the libs version changed (rare — only happens on cu126 → cu128 type bumps), you'll be prompted to confirm the larger download.
## RTX 50-series / Blackwell
Voicebox 0.4 added explicit RTX 50-series support:
- CUDA toolkit upgraded to **cu128** (previous releases used cu126 which lacks Blackwell kernels)
- Build pinned with `TORCH_CUDA_ARCH_LIST=...12.0+PTX` for forward-compatibility
If you're on an RTX 5070 / 5080 / 5090 and you see "no kernel image is available" errors:
1. Make sure you're on Voicebox **≥ 0.4.0** (Settings → About)
2. Reinstall the CUDA backend (Settings → GPU → Reinstall CUDA backend) — older installs may have stale cu126 libs
3. If errors persist, see the GPU compatibility warnings section below
## Intel Arc (XPU)
New in 0.4. Works with both Arc A-series (Alchemist: A380, A580, A750, A770) and B-series (Battlemage).
### Setup
Voicebox auto-detects Arc GPUs and routes through Intel's PyTorch XPU backend (powered by IPEX — Intel Extension for PyTorch). No extra installation step beyond the standard Voicebox install.
Verify it's working:
- Settings → GPU should show **XPU** followed by your Arc model name (e.g. `XPU (Intel Arc A770)`)
- Startup logs print `Backend: PYTORCH` and `GPU: XPU (Intel Arc ...)`
### Engines on XPU
All PyTorch-based engines work on XPU. Performance is generally between CPU and CUDA — expect ~2-3x speedup over CPU for the larger models.
## DirectML
The fallback for Windows users with non-NVIDIA, non-Intel-Arc GPUs (older AMD discrete, integrated GPUs, etc.). Slower than CUDA and XPU but provides some acceleration over CPU.
Auto-selected when no other GPU backend is available.
## AMD ROCm (Linux)
ROCm provides PyTorch GPU acceleration on AMD discrete GPUs. Voicebox auto-configures `HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION` for common cards that need the override.
### Verifying
```bash
# In a terminal
echo $HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION
# Should show e.g. 10.3.0 for RX 6000 series
```
If detection fails, set the variable manually before launching Voicebox:
```bash
export HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION=10.3.0
voicebox
```
Common values:
- `10.3.0` — RX 6000 series (RDNA 2)
- `11.0.0` — RX 7000 series (RDNA 3)
- `9.0.0` — Older Vega cards
## GPU Compatibility Warnings
Voicebox 0.4 added a runtime check that compares your GPU's compute capability against the architectures the bundled PyTorch was compiled for. If they don't match, you'll see:
- A startup log line: `WARNING: GPU COMPATIBILITY: <your GPU> is not supported by this PyTorch build...`
- The GPU label in Settings shows `[UNSUPPORTED - see logs]`
- The `/health` API returns a populated `gpu_compatibility_warning` field
### What to do
The most common trigger is a brand-new GPU architecture that pre-built PyTorch wheels don't yet cover natively. In order of preference:
1. **Update Voicebox** — newer releases ship newer PyTorch with broader arch support
2. **Reinstall the CUDA backend** — Settings → GPU → Reinstall CUDA backend
3. **For bleeding-edge GPUs (newer than current Blackwell):** install PyTorch nightly manually:
```bash
pip install torch --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/nightly/cu128 --force-reinstall
```
Then point Voicebox at that environment via [Remote Mode](/overview/remote-mode) until stable PyTorch catches up.
4. **Fall back to CPU** temporarily — set `VOICEBOX_FORCE_CPU=1` before launching
## CPU-Only Fallback
When no GPU is available (or you've forced it off), Voicebox runs the PyTorch CPU backend. Expect:
- 5-50x slower generation depending on engine and text length
- Heavy CPU usage during generation
- Some engines work better than others on CPU:
- **Kokoro 82M** — runs at realtime on modern CPUs
- **LuxTTS** — exceeds 150x realtime on CPU
- **Chatterbox Turbo (350M)** — usable but slow
- Larger models (Qwen 1.7B, Chatterbox Multilingual, TADA 3B) — painful
For CPU-bound use cases, prefer the smaller, lighter engines.
## Verifying Your Setup
Three places to check that the right backend is being used:
<Steps>
<Step title="Settings → GPU">
Shows the detected backend, GPU model, and VRAM (when applicable). Look for the `[UNSUPPORTED - see logs]` suffix
</Step>
<Step title="Settings → Logs">
The "Server logs" tab shows the startup banner with `Backend: <type>` and `GPU: <name>`
</Step>
<Step title="Health endpoint">
`curl http://localhost:17493/health` returns a JSON payload with `backend_type`, `backend_variant`, and `gpu_compatibility_warning` (when applicable)
</Step>
</Steps>
## Troubleshooting
<AccordionGroup>
<Accordion title="Settings shows CPU instead of my GPU">
- On NVIDIA: install the CUDA backend (Settings → GPU)
- On Intel Arc: confirm IPEX detection in startup logs; restart the app after a driver update
- On AMD Linux: check `HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION` is set
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="'no kernel image is available' / 'CUDA error'">
Almost always means the bundled PyTorch doesn't have kernels for your GPU's compute capability.
1. Update to Voicebox ≥ 0.4.0 (Blackwell support added there)
2. Reinstall the CUDA backend
3. If still broken, install PyTorch nightly via Remote Mode
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Out of memory (CUDA)">
- Switch to a smaller model size (e.g. Qwen3 0.6B instead of 1.7B)
- Use Settings → Models to unload other engines you're not using
- Enable `low_cpu_mem_usage` is already on for CPU; for CUDA, the engine's `device_map` handles offload automatically
- Close other GPU applications
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="MPS fallback errors on macOS">
Some operations don't have a Metal implementation. Voicebox sets `PYTORCH_ENABLE_MPS_FALLBACK=1` for engines that need it (notably Kokoro), but if you launch from a custom env, set it manually:
```bash
export PYTORCH_ENABLE_MPS_FALLBACK=1
```
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Generation works but is slow on my GPU">
- Check Settings → GPU shows your GPU (not CPU)
- Check VRAM usage — you may be paging to system memory
- Try a smaller model
- For NVIDIA: confirm cu128 is installed (Settings → GPU → version)
</Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>
## Next Steps
<Cards>
<Card title="Remote Mode" href="/overview/remote-mode">
Run the backend on a different machine with a stronger GPU
</Card>
<Card title="Model Management" href="/developer/model-management">
Unload models to free GPU memory
</Card>
<Card title="Troubleshooting" href="/overview/troubleshooting">
General troubleshooting beyond GPU
</Card>
</Cards>
+2
View File
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
"installation",
"docker",
"quick-start",
"gpu-acceleration",
"voice-cloning",
"preset-voices",
"stories-editor",
"recording-transcription",
"generation-history",
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
---
title: "Preset Voices"
description: "Use built-in, ready-made voices without recording audio samples"
---
## Overview
Some Voicebox engines ship with a curated set of pre-built voices. Instead of cloning from your own audio sample, you pick a voice from a fixed catalog and the model speaks in that voice. No recording, no upload, no per-voice training required.
Two engines in 0.4 ship preset voices:
| Engine | Voices | Languages | Strengths |
| --------------------- | ----------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Kokoro 82M** | 50 | 9 | Tiny model, CPU-friendly, lowest VRAM of any engine |
| **Qwen CustomVoice** | 9 (premium curated) | 4 | Natural-language style control over tone, emotion, pace |
<Callout type="info">
Looking for cloning a specific person's voice instead? See [Voice Cloning](/overview/voice-cloning).
</Callout>
## When to Use Preset Voices
<Cards>
<Card title="No reference audio">
You don't have (or don't want to provide) a recording of the target voice
</Card>
<Card title="Production reliability">
Curated voices have predictable quality across any text input
</Card>
<Card title="Speed">
Skip the audio cleanup, sample preparation, and quality iteration loop
</Card>
<Card title="Lightweight setup">
Kokoro runs at CPU realtime with ~150 MB on disk — no GPU needed
</Card>
</Cards>
## Creating a Preset-Voice Profile
<Steps>
<Step title="Open Profiles → New Profile">
Same entry point as cloning profiles
</Step>
<Step title="Choose the engine">
Select **Kokoro** or **Qwen CustomVoice** from the engine dropdown
</Step>
<Step title="Pick a preset voice">
The voice catalog for the chosen engine appears — preview each by clicking it
</Step>
<Step title="Name and save">
Give the profile a name. No audio sample needed — just save
</Step>
<Step title="Generate">
Use the profile like any other in the floating generate box or the Generate page
</Step>
</Steps>
<Callout type="info">
Preset profiles are locked to their source engine — switching engines won't work since the voice exists only for that model. The profile grid greys out preset profiles when you switch to a different engine, and clicking one auto-switches the engine back to the right one.
</Callout>
## Kokoro 82M — 50 Voices Across 9 Languages
Kokoro is the smallest engine in Voicebox at 82M parameters. It runs at CPU realtime with negligible VRAM, making it the best option for lightweight local inference. Voices are pre-built style vectors trained into the model — there's no concept of cloning here.
**Repository:** [`hexgrad/Kokoro-82M`](https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M) · Apache 2.0 licensed
### American English
| Female | Male |
| ------- | ------- |
| Alloy | Adam |
| Aoede | Echo |
| Bella | Eric |
| Heart | Fenrir |
| Jessica | Liam |
| Kore | Michael |
| Nicole | Onyx |
| Nova | Puck |
| River | Santa |
| Sarah | |
| Sky | |
### British English
| Female | Male |
| -------- | ------ |
| Alice | Daniel |
| Emma | Fable |
| Isabella | George |
| Lily | Lewis |
### Other Languages
| Language | Voices |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Spanish (`es`) | Dora (f), Alex (m), Santa (m) |
| French (`fr`) | Siwis (f) |
| Hindi (`hi`) | Alpha (f), Beta (f), Omega (m), Psi (m) |
| Italian (`it`) | Sara (f), Nicola (m) |
| Japanese (`ja`) | Alpha (f), Gongitsune (f), Nezumi (f), Tebukuro (f), Kumo (m) |
| Portuguese (`pt`) | Dora (f), Alex (m), Santa (m) |
| Chinese (`zh`) | Xiaobei (f), Xiaoni (f), Xiaoxiao (f), Xiaoyi (f) |
### Kokoro at a Glance
| Property | Value |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| Parameters | 82M |
| Sample rate | 24 kHz |
| VRAM | ~150 MB (negligible on CPU) |
| Speed | Realtime on CPU, faster on GPU |
| Instruct | Not supported (preset voice carries the style) |
| License | Apache 2.0 |
## Qwen CustomVoice — 9 Premium Voices with Instruct Control
Qwen CustomVoice ships with 9 curated speakers and supports **natural-language style control** — you tell the model how to deliver the line ("speak slowly with warmth", "authoritative and clear") and it adapts tone, emotion, and pace.
Two model sizes:
- **1.7B** — full quality, recommended default
- **0.6B** — lighter, faster, lower-end hardware
**Repository:** [`Qwen/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-CustomVoice`](https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3-TTS-12Hz-1.7B-CustomVoice) (and 0.6B variant) · by Alibaba
### Voice Catalog
| Speaker | Gender | Language | Description |
| --------- | ------ | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Vivian | female | Chinese | Bright, slightly edgy young female voice |
| Serena | female | Chinese | Warm, gentle young female voice |
| Uncle Fu | male | Chinese | Seasoned male voice with a low, mellow timbre |
| Dylan | male | Chinese | Youthful Beijing male voice with a clear, natural timbre |
| Eric | male | Chinese | Lively Chengdu male voice with a slightly husky brightness |
| Ryan | male | English | Dynamic male voice with strong rhythmic drive (default) |
| Aiden | male | English | Sunny American male voice with a clear midrange |
| Ono Anna | female | Japanese | Playful Japanese female voice with a light, nimble timbre |
| Sohee | female | Korean | Warm Korean female voice with rich emotion |
### Using Instruct Mode
In the floating generate box, switch to a Qwen CustomVoice profile and click the **delivery instructions** toggle (slider icon, left of the generate button). A second textarea appears below the main text:
- Main text → what you want the voice to say
- Instruct text → how you want it delivered
Examples of effective instruct prompts:
```
Speak slowly with emphasis, like reading bedtime stories
Warm and friendly, conversational tone
Professional and authoritative, broadcast quality
Whisper, intimate and close
Excited and energetic, like sports commentary
```
The full Generate page also surfaces the instruct field as a separate input.
### Qwen CustomVoice at a Glance
| Property | Value |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Parameters | 1.7B / 0.6B |
| Languages | Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean (10 supported) |
| Voices | 9 curated preset speakers |
| VRAM | ~3.5 GB (1.7B), ~1.2 GB (0.6B) |
| Instruct | Yes — natural-language style control |
| Cloning | No — paired Base Qwen3-TTS engine handles cloning |
## Cloning vs Preset — Quick Decision
| You want… | Use |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| To replicate a specific person's voice | [Voice Cloning](/overview/voice-cloning) |
| Production-ready voices with no audio prep | Kokoro or Qwen CustomVoice |
| The smallest possible footprint (CPU-only) | Kokoro |
| Fine control over delivery (tone, pace, emotion) | Qwen CustomVoice |
| The broadest language coverage | [Voice Cloning](/overview/voice-cloning) via Chatterbox Multilingual (23 langs) |
## Limitations
<Callout type="warn">
Preset voices are fixed — you can't fine-tune or modify the underlying voice. If you want a specific voice that isn't in the catalog, use a cloning engine and provide a reference sample.
</Callout>
- Preset voices can't be exported to use in other Voicebox installations as audio (only as profile metadata pointing to the same engine + voice ID)
- The Kokoro voice catalog is set by the upstream model — new voices appear only when hexgrad publishes new model releases
- Qwen CustomVoice's 9 speakers are part of the model checkpoint — same constraint
## Next Steps
<Cards>
<Card title="Voice Cloning" href="/overview/voice-cloning">
Clone a specific voice from your own audio
</Card>
<Card title="Generate Speech" href="/overview/generating-speech">
Use a profile to generate audio
</Card>
<Card title="Build Stories" href="/overview/building-stories">
Compose multi-voice narratives
</Card>
</Cards>
+58 -15
View File
@@ -1,11 +1,25 @@
---
title: "Voice Cloning"
description: "Clone any voice from just a few seconds of audio"
description: "Clone any voice from a few seconds of reference audio"
---
## Overview
Voicebox uses **Qwen3-TTS** from Alibaba to achieve near-perfect voice cloning from just a few seconds of audio. The model captures prosody, emotion, and natural cadence.
Voicebox can replicate a specific person's voice from a short audio sample — known as **zero-shot voice cloning**. You provide 10-30 seconds of clear speech, the model extracts a voice embedding, and from then on you can generate any text in that voice.
Five engines in 0.4 support cloning:
| Engine | Languages | Strengths |
| --------------------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Qwen3-TTS** (0.6B / 1.7B) | 10 | High-quality multilingual, supports delivery instructions on the same kwarg |
| **Chatterbox Multilingual** | 23 | Broadest language coverage — Arabic, Hindi, Swahili, Hebrew, more |
| **Chatterbox Turbo** | English | Fast 350M model with paralinguistic emotion tags (`[laugh]`, `[sigh]`) |
| **LuxTTS** | English | Lightweight (~1 GB VRAM), 48 kHz output, 150x realtime on CPU |
| **TADA** (1B / 3B) | 10 | Speech-language model with 700s+ coherent long-form generation |
<Callout type="info">
Don't want to record audio? Use a curated voice from Kokoro or Qwen CustomVoice instead — see [Preset Voices](/overview/preset-voices).
</Callout>
## How It Works
@@ -13,17 +27,30 @@ Voicebox uses **Qwen3-TTS** from Alibaba to achieve near-perfect voice cloning f
<Step title="Upload or Record Sample">
Provide 10-30 seconds of clear speech from the target voice
</Step>
<Step title="Model Analysis">
Qwen3-TTS analyzes vocal characteristics, tone, and speaking patterns
<Step title="Engine Analysis">
The selected engine analyzes vocal characteristics, tone, and speaking patterns
</Step>
<Step title="Voice Profile Created">
The model generates a voice embedding for synthesis
A voice embedding is generated and stored with your profile
</Step>
<Step title="Generate Speech">
Use the profile to generate any text in the cloned voice
</Step>
</Steps>
## Choosing an Engine for Cloning
Different engines suit different use cases. The profile grid greys out unsupported engines so you can switch easily.
| If you want… | Pick |
| -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| Best overall quality on a few common languages | **Qwen3-TTS 1.7B** |
| Faster generation, slightly lower quality | **Qwen3-TTS 0.6B** |
| Languages outside Qwen's 10 (Arabic, Hindi, etc.) | **Chatterbox Multilingual** |
| Expressive English with `[laugh]` `[sigh]` tags | **Chatterbox Turbo** |
| CPU-only or GPU-light setup, English | **LuxTTS** |
| Long-form generation (audiobooks, full chapters) | **TADA 3B** |
## Best Practices
### Sample Quality
@@ -52,24 +79,40 @@ Adding multiple samples from the same speaker can improve quality:
- Different recording conditions
<Callout type="info">
The model will learn a more robust representation from diverse samples.
The model will learn a more robust representation from diverse samples. Especially helpful for distinctive voices the model might otherwise smooth over.
</Callout>
## Supported Languages
## Supported Languages by Engine
Currently supported:
- English
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- **Qwen3-TTS** — English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian (10)
- **Chatterbox Multilingual** — Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish (23)
- **Chatterbox Turbo** — English
- **LuxTTS** — English
- **TADA 3B** — 10 multilingual; **TADA 1B** — English
More languages coming soon.
For complete language tables and engine-specific notes, see the [TTS Engines developer guide](/developer/tts-engines).
## Limitations
<Callout type="warn">
Voice cloning should only be used with consent. Ensure you have permission to clone someone's voice.
Voice cloning should only be used with consent. Ensure you have permission to clone someone's voice. See the project's [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox/blob/main/SECURITY.md) and your local laws on synthetic voice content.
</Callout>
- Quality depends on sample clarity
- Works best with consistent speaking tone
- Quality depends on sample clarity — noisy samples produce noisy clones
- Works best with consistent speaking tone within a sample
- May struggle with extreme accents or speech impediments
- Background noise reduces quality
- Background noise reduces quality and can introduce artifacts
## Next Steps
<Cards>
<Card title="Creating Voice Profiles" href="/overview/creating-voice-profiles">
Step-by-step guide to creating profiles
</Card>
<Card title="Preset Voices" href="/overview/preset-voices">
Use built-in voices instead of cloning
</Card>
<Card title="Generating Speech" href="/overview/generating-speech">
Use a profile to generate audio
</Card>
</Cards>