Is Chirp-HD Voice Being Deprecated?

Our IT team recently noticed that the page Supported voices and languages  |  Cloud Text-to-Speech API  |  Google Cloud has removed the Chirp HD voice types that had Launch stage as Preview (formerly known as Journey voices). I’m extremely concerned and have been regularly monitoring the Text-to-Speech release notes  |  Cloud Text-to-Speech API  |  Google Cloud to see if there are any plans to deprecate this voice type.

My application primarily uses Chirp-HD voices, and tens of thousands of my users absolutely love them because they provide such natural-sounding speech (they actually prefer it over the newer Chirp 3 generation). They use these voices extensively in their various tasks and projects.

If this voice type gets deprecated, I’m worried that my application won’t be able to continue providing services to my users. The quality and naturalness of Chirp-HD is crucial for our user experience, and losing it would significantly impact our service delivery.

Questions:

  • Is Google planning to deprecate Chirp-HD voices?
  • If so, what’s the timeline for deprecation?
  • Is there any official communication about this change that I might have missed?

Any insights or official information would be greatly appreciated. Our users depend on this voice quality, and we need to plan accordingly if changes are coming.

Thank you!

Hi flying_hearth,

While there has been no official public announcement from Google detailing the deprecation of Chirp-HD voices, which were previously known as Journey voices, it’s important to note that this is because they have been rebranded, not discontinued. Recent updates and documentation from Google indicate that these voices are actively supported under a new name. Also note that if a product is still in the Preview stage, it is not recommended for commercial deployment due to potential changes in availability and limited support.

Far from being deprecated, Google continues to develop this technology. Recent documentation highlights Chirp 3: HD voices as the latest generation, offering a high level of realism. These advanced voices are available in numerous languages and support various controls for aspects like pace and pause.

If you need further assistance, you may consider reaching out to Google Cloud Support or your account representative if you have one — direct feedback from enterprise users often influences roadmap decisions.