Google Text-to-Speech Only Showing Chirp Voices

[R_Erica_I]

Yesterday I noticed that all voices except for the new Chirp voices have disappeared from Google Text-to-Speech. When I check the supported voice page, the voice types I want to use (ex. Studio, Neural2) are still listed, so I don't believe they've been removed. Is this a bug?

It's been over 24 hours since I first noticed the issue. A quick Google search shows that at least one other person is experiencing the same problem.

Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Oli1]

I have the same problem!!!
In the console I cannot find the voices I have been using.
Oli

[NorieRam]

Hi @R_Erica_I,

Welcome to Google Cloud Community!

Upon reviewing the situation, I can confirm that this issue was previously submitted as a bug and is already being addressed by our Engineering Team. You can check the bug for updates and solutions as they work to resolve it.

Was this helpful? If so, please accept this answer as “Solution”. If you need additional assistance, reply here within 2 business days and I’ll be happy to help.

[Oli1]

For the moment i found a workaround. It ist possible in the console to choose Language "English (UK) - en-GB" and NO Voice and then use SSML to specify another voice and language like "<speak><voice name="en-US-Polyglot-1"><lang xml:lang"en-US">.... some text ...</...
(When I choose "Englisch (US) - en-US" as the voice in the console I get an error message for my ssml - voice, but Englisch (UK) works)

[SGouvelis]

I am also experiencing this issue. Any idea when this will be resolved?

[midomni]

I have the same issue...just discovered it today.

[R_Erica_I]

@NorieRam Thank you for sharing the link to the bug report. It has been over 2 weeks since this bug occurred, and there are 0 updates from Google on the bug report page. This is severely affecting our production. Could you please share an ETA for the fix? Thank you in advance!

[rmrf]

We have not removed the voices.

While they are not visible in the UI, all voices are accessible via the Text-to-Speech API. This was an intentional choice by the product team to only show Chirp 3 HD voices in the Cloud Console UI for Text-to-Speech.

[Nolo_84]

I have a question regarding the Chirp-HD voices (formerly Journey).

Our IT department requested a quota increase for this voice family, which was rejected unfortunately. The reason given for this was actually not clear, especially in regards to whether the voice will be removed in near future or not. 

Could you please comment on this?

I just want to avoid a potential misunderstanding.

[rmrf]

Without seeing the word-for-word reason for rejection I can't say.

[Nolo_84]

Here you are:
I can sense the urgency and importance of your request.I am writing to provide an update on your recent quota increase request. After careful evaluation of your request for a quota increase for JourneyRequestsPerMinutePerProject, we regret to inform you that we are unable to approve this request at this time. Please note that the requested resource will be replaced to Chirp3. If you would like to request a quota increase for Chirp3, please submit a new request.We understand that this may not be the outcome you were hoping for, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We appreciate your understanding and value your business.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are always happy to assist you in any way we can.

All the best

[rmrf]

Ok, I am getting clarification on this but the Chirp product is simply a rebrand of Journey, so you should apply for a Chirp quota increase if you need it.

[alisha47]

I am also facing this issue. let me know if you find any solution to this. 

[Nolo_84]

It would be awesome if this was just a misunderstanding. Thanks.

I have also another question:

Can you probably pinpoint the meaning of the following hint (the highlighted part) from your docs:

"Note: Chirp HD voices [doesn't support SSML input, speaking rate and pitch-audio parameters, and the A-Law audio encoding]. It's available in the global, eu, and us endpoints but is out of scope for regionalization and data residency."

Does it really mean that it doesn't matter which endpoint you'll choose (EU, US) it'll be processed worldwide anyways?

Or does it mean that you just cannot specify a certain region (e.g. europe-west) but the scope of the specified Multi-region (EU) is still valid and respected?

Thanks for your efforts.