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Paul Bailey d3e72edd7f fix: Update Piper TTS to support voice preview and improve setup

- Fixed preview endpoint to work with both Kokoro and Piper engines
- Improved voice model download with curl fallback and SSL handling
- Added better error messages when models are missing
- Created PIPER_SETUP.md with manual download instructions
- Added test_piper_direct.py for testing Piper installation
- Updated README with voice model download requirements

Note: Piper voice models require manual download from GitHub releases
due to HuggingFace URL structure. See PIPER_SETUP.md for instructions.

2025-12-09 14:56:48 +00:00

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Piper TTS Setup Guide

Quick Start

Piper TTS is now integrated but requires manual voice model setup.

1. Install Piper

cd backend
./install_piper.sh

Verify installation:

piper --version

2. Download Voice Models

Piper voice models need to be downloaded manually and placed in backend/piper_models/.

Download voices from: https://github.com/rhasspy/piper/releases/tag/v1.2.0

Recommended voices for English:

en_US-lessac-medium (Male, American)
- Download: en_US-lessac-medium.onnx and en_US-lessac-medium.onnx.json
- Place in: backend/piper_models/
en_US-amy-medium (Female, American)
- Download: en_US-amy-medium.onnx and en_US-amy-medium.onnx.json
- Place in: backend/piper_models/
en_GB-alan-medium (Male, British)
- Download: en_GB-alan-medium.onnx and en_GB-alan-medium.onnx.json
- Place in: backend/piper_models/

3. Directory Structure

After downloading, your directory should look like:

backend/
├── piper_models/
│   ├── en_US-lessac-medium.onnx
│   ├── en_US-lessac-medium.onnx.json
│   ├── en_US-amy-medium.onnx
│   ├── en_US-amy-medium.onnx.json
│   ├── en_GB-alan-medium.onnx
│   └── en_GB-alan-medium.onnx.json
└── ...

4. Test Piper

cd backend
python test_piper_direct.py

5. Use in Application

Start the backend server
In the frontend, click "Piper TTS" button in Voice Assignment screen
Select Piper voices from the dropdown
Generate audiobook with pitch control!

Troubleshooting

"Model not found" error

Make sure you downloaded both .onnx and .onnx.json files
Check files are in backend/piper_models/ directory
Verify filenames match exactly (case-sensitive)

"Piper not found" error

Run ./install_piper.sh to install Piper
Or install manually from https://github.com/rhasspy/piper/releases

Synthesis fails

Check Piper version: piper --version
Try running Piper directly: echo "test" | piper --model piper_models/en_US-lessac-medium.onnx --output-raw > test.wav
Check backend logs for detailed error messages

Alternative: Use Kokoro TTS

If Piper setup is too complex, you can continue using Kokoro TTS (the default engine) which works out of the box with no additional setup.

More Voices

Browse all available Piper voices: https://rhasspy.github.io/piper-samples/

Download any voice and place the .onnx and .onnx.json files in backend/piper_models/.

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