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Voice cloning from an 8-second sample: recording tips

DataArc TeamPublished · 4 min read

Voice cloning needs a reference recording. The model takes more from it than the timbre: it also picks up the way you speak and the room you were in. So the quality of the reference decides the ceiling for the cloned voice, and no amount of tuning afterwards can recover what the recording lacks. This article explains how to record those 8 seconds.

1. How 8 seconds become a voice

The process has three steps:

  1. In the recording window, tick the confirmation and start recording. The browser records 8 seconds and saves them directly as a 24 kHz, 16-bit, mono WAV. No compressed format is involved, so every browser produces the same kind of file.
  2. The recording is uploaded to the server and transcribed by speech recognition. The result is the reference text. If no speech can be recognized, the recording is rejected and you record again.
  3. For synthesis, the recording and its reference text go to the model together with the text to be read. The output is a 24 kHz WAV, with at most 2500 characters per request.

The model is not trained for you separately. The voice comes from this recording and its text, so both have to be accurate.

2. The recording environment

  • Quiet: close doors and windows, and switch off air conditioning and fans. Bare rooms with hard walls have a lot of reverb. A place with curtains or clothes is better.
  • Distance: keep your mouth about a fist from the microphone, and keep it the same for the whole take. Do not walk while you speak.
  • Volume: speak at your usual volume. Do not swing between loud and soft, and do not get so loud that it clips. Once clipping is in the recording, every synthesized sentence carries it.
  • Device: a headset microphone or a phone microphone is fine. Turn off voice changers and vocal enhancement filters.

3. How to speak

The prompt in the recording dialog simply asks you to speak naturally for 8 seconds at your normal pace—say whatever you like. A few extra habits make the result more consistent:

  • Say complete sentences, not a list of words. Let the sentences rise and fall naturally.
  • Do not perform. The tone of the reference usually carries over into every synthesis.
  • Do not pause for long in the middle, and do not wait until the last second to begin.
  • Re-record if you cough, clear your throat, laugh, or other people speak in the background.

4. Listen first, then decide

After recording, listen back once. Make sure every word is clear, with no audible background hiss, clipping, or other voices, then click "Use this clip". If anything sounds off, re-record. A fresh take takes only seconds—far easier than trying to fix synthesized audio later.

5. Common problems

  • The page says it could not hear speech: usually you are too far from the microphone, or the room is too noisy. Move closer, or go somewhere quiet, and record again.
  • The synthesized voice sounds muffled or echoey: most likely the reference has reverb, or you were too close to a wall. Try another room.
  • There is noise in the synthesis: listen back to the reference. The noise is probably already in it. Re-recording is more direct than post-processing.
  • The synthesized tone is more dramatic than your own: the tone in the reference was learned along with the voice. Record again in your normal tone.

6. A voice is personal

A voice can identify a person, so we accept only the speaker's own recording, and we ask you to confirm before recording. Do not use someone else's voice, and do not upload a recording you are not authorized to use.

DataArc Team

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