TTS not used for headwords

举人
Hi, I've been wanting to use the new TTS for headword pronunciation. I checked the selection in audio options to use TTS if no recordings found, and deleted the audio pronunciation files. However now when I tap the headword pronunciation icon no sound is made. Perhaps a bug? Or am I doing something wrong?

Cheers
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Is the TTS actually installed? (does it show up as an option in the Sentence portion of Settings / Audio?) Can you listen to sentences with it? Any chance your device might be muted or have its volume turned down?
 

举人
Yes, I just purchased the new yafang TTS and installed it. Example sentences work fine. Volume is up. TTS for English headwords works fine just silence for Chinese headwords
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Hmm, so just to confirm, you have only the Yafang TTS add-on installed and not any others? Have you also deleted our audio recording add-ons? Which system TTS engine is selected in Settings / Audio?
 

举人
I've attached some screenshots to help. When I use "None" or "Pico TTS" there is silence for the headwords. The other two options are inbuilt into my xiaomi phone and while work for headwords it is using xiaomis TTS, not the yafang like I wish. Apart from yafang no other audio files installed on pleco.
 

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mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Any chance that Pleco is configured to primarily use simplified instead of traditional characters? (looks like there's an obscure bug that can keep Yafang from working in that case)
 

Bvo

探花
Hi, not the same problem, but related to the title.
I have no Pleco TTS files installed (I just like system voice) and configured gender to Alternate and "use TTS if no recordings" is checked. In "TTS Voice" just the system one (female) is selected.
When a headword has recordings then male and female's records are alternating as expected.
When I play examples (i.e. use TTS) everything is fine - just one voice is used.
But when a headword has no recordings, playing audio will one time play system TTS (female) and another time it wil speak the headword char by char (male voice, as if "use TTS if no recording" was not checked).
Is it possible to play just one system voice in the last case above, without char-by-char pronunciation?
PS: I use last stable v3.2.57.
 
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mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Not at the moment, no; in a situation like this, your preference for voice gender takes precedence, so if there's a female TTS and male recordings installed and you've told Pleco you want to hear audio from both genders then it will prioritize that over your desire that it not give you syllable-by-syllable recordings. (you can certainly debate that decision, but I don't believe anybody's ever complained about it before, whereas we have gotten quite a few complaints in the past about genders not alternating correctly in various now-addressed circumstances)
 

Bvo

探花
OK, I installed Liang TTS and now it speaks male TTS (though the voice is unchecked in the options!). You decide if it's correct :)
So if someone use free Pleco version (without Pleco's TTS) it's impossible for him/her to fix it? Or there is another way to fix?
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Checkboxes only apply to example sentences (hence the header to that effect), not to headwords.

And no, no way to get the behavior you're describing with only free TTS. But on Android very few people own our paid male audio but not a paid male TTS, since we've included Liang in the Basic Bundle for a very long time.
 

Bvo

探花
Just to be sure I'll miss nothing - if I installed Extended Audio there's no need to install free Audio Pronunciation, right?

FYI, current Google Chinese TTS is much better than Hui TTS, IMHO. But unfortunately it offers female voice only...
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
TBH there's so little interest in recorded audio these days that it's hard to make stuff like that a priority.
 

Bvo

探花
Do you mean people like TTS more than recorded audio???
Cannot believe, cause TTS is still more "acceptable" than "perfect".
Especially for language learning.
 
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Bvo

探花
As you know it's important not only to know "what" but to understand "why".
If not much people asking for recorded audio it doesn't mean they prefer TTS.
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Not just about what people are asking for, it's about what they use / what they buy as a standalone item / what they write us for support about.
 

pdwalker

状元
It's hard to argue with actual numbers.

FWIW, I'm pleased to have purchased the extended audio samples. I find the difference is quite significant between that and the TTS.
 
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