Voice Synthesis API (Phase 2 - Future)
Status: This is Phase 2 of the talk.dev product roadmap. Development will begin after Phase 1 (Desktop Dictation App) is complete.
Overview
The Voice Synthesis API positions talk.dev as a direct competitor to ElevenLabs in the text-to-speech (TTS) voice AI market. This phase will deliver a developer-first API platform for voice synthesis with superior performance, pricing, and developer experience.
Product Direction
Text → Speech (TTS)
- Transform text into natural speech
- Voice cloning from short audio samples
- Real-time streaming synthesis
- 25+ languages with emotional expression
Key Differentiators vs ElevenLabs
| Feature | ElevenLabs | talk.dev Target |
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis Speed | 200ms+ | <150ms |
| Pricing | $0.004/1K chars | $0.002/1K chars |
| Voice Cloning | 5-15 minutes | 2-5 minutes |
| API Design | Complex | RESTful + WebSocket |
Documentation in This Folder
- api-guidelines.md - API design principles and endpoints
- competitive-analysis.md - ElevenLabs competitive strategy
- implementation-roadmap.md - Technical implementation plan
- openapi.yaml - OpenAPI 3.1 specification
- sdk-examples.md - SDK usage examples
- use-cases.md - Real-world application examples
Prerequisites
Phase 2 development should begin after:
- Phase 1 Desktop Dictation App is feature-complete
- Convex backend is proven and stable
- User base established through dictation app
- Revenue stream from dictation subscriptions
Tech Stack (Planned)
- Voice Engine: Transformer-based neural vocoder
- Inference: ONNX Runtime on GPU clusters
- API: FastAPI (Python) with async/await
- Streaming: WebSocket for real-time synthesis
- Infrastructure: Kubernetes with auto-scaling GPU nodes
Timeline
Development timeline TBD based on Phase 1 completion. Estimated 6-12 months for MVP after Phase 1 launch.
Current Priority: See talk-dev-bootstrap-PRD.md for Phase 1 Desktop Dictation App.