Typed TTS
Typed text-to-speech, or typed TTS, turns written messages into a spoken voice.
Part of Communication methods.
How it works
The creator writes each line, and a speech engine reads it aloud. The words belong to the creator. The software supplies the sound.
- Input: A typed message. Some creators send saved phrases or use another text-entry device instead of a keyboard.
- Processing: A speech engine converts the text into audio.
- Delivery: A synthetic voice in the stream, often with the same text shown on screen.
Viewers get a consistent voice that can become part of how they recognize the creator. Replies arrive after a short pause while each line is written and sent.
What it isn’t
Speech-to-text-to-speech also ends in a synthetic voice, but it starts with the creator speaking instead of typing. A soundboard plays clips prepared in advance, while typed TTS voices a new line written in the moment. And when a stream reads viewers’ chat aloud, the words belong to the audience, not the creator.
Before you stream with it
Check both audio paths. Your broadcast software has to capture the TTS audio so viewers hear it, and a call app such as Discord needs it as a mic input, usually through a virtual audio cable. Record a short test and listen for whether the voice is clear over game audio.
Questions
- Does TTS mean the creator can’t speak?
- No. TTS tells you how the voice is made. It doesn’t tell you whether the creator can speak or why they chose it.
- Is typed TTS the same as an AI voice?
- The voice is synthetic, but the words aren’t generated. The creator writes every line, and software only produces the sound.
- Do you need a microphone for typed TTS?
- Not to write or voice your messages. If you want collaborators to hear the voice in a call, a virtual audio cable can carry it into the call app’s mic input.
Read more: What is a TTS VTuber?
Creators who use typed TTS
A listing shows how a creator communicates, not why.