Microsoft Azure Text – Text to Speech Converter

Introduction to Microsoft Azure Text-to-Speech Converter

The Microsoft Azure Text-to-Speech (TTS) converter is a cloud-based service that enables developers to convert written text into natural-sounding speech. This powerful tool can be used to create a wide range of applications, from simple voice assistants to complex systems that require text-to-speech functionality. In this tutorial, we will explore the steps to use the Microsoft Azure Text-to-Speech converter, including how to sign up for an Azure account, create a TTS resource, and use the API to convert text to speech.

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, you will need the following:

• An Azure account (free trial or paid subscription)
• A text editor or IDE (such as Visual Studio Code)
• Familiarity with JSON and HTTP requests

Step 1: Sign up for an Azure Account

If you don't already have an Azure account, you can sign up for a free trial or paid subscription on the Azure website. Follow the prompts to create a new account, and make sure to select the "Try it free" option for the Text-to-Speech service.

Step 2: Create a TTS Resource

Once you have signed up for an Azure account, you can create a new TTS resource. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com/) using your Azure account credentials.
2. Click on the "Create a resource" button.
3. Search for "Text-to-Speech" and select the "Text-to-Speech" service.
4. Fill in the required information, including the resource name, location, and pricing tier.
5. Click on the "Create" button to create the new TTS resource.

Step 3: Get Your API Key and Endpoint

Once you have created your TTS resource, you will need to get your API key and endpoint. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com/) using your Azure account credentials.
2. Navigate to the "Text-to-Speech" service and select your TTS resource.
3. Click on the "Keys" tab and copy the API key.
4. Click on the "Endpoint" tab and copy the endpoint URL.

Step 4: Use the API to Convert Text to Speech

Now that you have your API key and endpoint, you can use the API to convert text to speech. To do this, you will need to make an HTTP request to the endpoint URL, passing in the text you want to convert and the API key.

Here is an example of how to do this using the curl command:

curl -X POST 
  https://<endpoint_url>/tts?api-key=<api_key>&voice=<voice>&speed=<speed>&text=<text> 
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json'

Replace <endpoint_url> with the endpoint URL you copied earlier, <api_key> with your API key, <voice> with the voice you want to use (e.g. "en-US-Aria"), <speed> with the speed you want to use (e.g. "1.0"), and <text> with the text you want to convert.

For example:

curl -X POST 
  https://westus.tts.speech.microsoft.com/tts?api-key=Your_API_Key&voice=en-US-Aria&speed=1.0&text=Hello%20world! 
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json'

This will return a JSON response containing the audio data for the converted text.

Step 5: Play the Audio

Finally, you can play the audio data by saving it to a file and playing it using a media player. For example, you can use the ffmpeg command to save the audio data to a file:

ffmpeg -i output.wav -c:a libmp3lame output.mp3

Then, you can play the file using a media player.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have covered the steps to use the Microsoft Azure Text-to-Speech converter. We have signed up for an Azure account, created a TTS resource, obtained our API key and endpoint, and used the API to convert text to speech. We have also saved the audio data to a file and played it using a media player. With this powerful tool, you can create a wide range of applications that require text-to-speech functionality.