TTS Server (ttser)

A Text-to-Speech (TTS) application using Rust and WASM with Parler-TTS model integration.

If you are looking for a pure rust pure rust TTS system that is production ready, you are in the wrong place. 😉

Architecture

This project consists of:

• Backend: Axum-based Rust server that uses Parler-TTS model for speech generation
• Frontend: WASM-compiled Rust library for browser audio functionality
• Static Files: HTML frontend served from the backend's public directory

Directory Structure

├── backend/          # Axum HTTP server with TTS API endpoints
├── frontend/         # WASM module compiled from Rust for browser audio functionality
├── scripts/          # Build and development scripts
└── public/           # Static frontend files served by the backend

Features

• Text-to-speech generation using Parler-TTS large model
• Customizable voice descriptions
• Adjustable generation parameters:
  • Temperature: Controls randomness (0.0-2.0)
  • Seed: Random seed for reproducible generation
  • Top P: Nucleus sampling parameter (0.0-1.0)
• Hardware acceleration support (CUDA, Metal, MKL, Accelerate)
• Web-based interface for easy interaction

Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Rust (latest stable)
• wasm-pack
• Node.js (for frontend dependencies)

Building

1. Build WASM frontend:

   cd scripts && ./build.sh

2. Build backend:

   cd backend && cargo check && cargo build

3. Build for release:

   cd backend && cargo build --release

Hardware Acceleration

The backend automatically detects and uses the best available acceleration:

This project is only tested with CUDA

# Build with CUDA support (NVIDIA GPUs)
cd backend && cargo build --release --features cuda

# Build with Metal support (Apple Silicon)
cd backend && cargo build --release --features metal

# Build with MKL support (Intel CPU optimization)
cd backend && cargo build --release --features mkl

# Build with Accelerate support (macOS CPU optimization)
cd backend && cargo build --release --features accelerate

Running

Start development server:

cd scripts && ./start.sh

Or manually:

cd scripts && ./build.sh && cd ../backend && cargo run

The server runs on http://localhost:8039 (or configured port) and serves:

• API endpoints under /api/*
• Static frontend files from /backend/public/

Command Line Options

• --cpu: Force CPU usage instead of GPU acceleration
• --bind <ADDRESS>: Set bind address (default: 0.0.0.0:8039)

API Endpoints

• POST /api/tts - Generate speech from text
  • Form parameters:
    • text: Text to convert to speech
    • description: Voice description
    • temperature: Generation temperature (optional)
    • seed: Random seed (optional)
    • top_p: Top-p sampling parameter (optional)
• GET /api/health - Health check
• GET /api/debug - Debug endpoint

Usage

1. Open your browser to http://localhost:8039
2. Enter text to convert to speech
3. Provide a voice description (e.g., "A female speaker with clear, animated speech")
4. Adjust generation parameters as needed:
   • Temperature: Higher values (1.0+) for more creative/varied output, lower values (0.0-0.5) for more consistent output
   • Seed: Set to a specific number for reproducible results
   • Top P: Controls diversity of word choice (0.9 is a good default)
5. Click "Generate Speech" to create and play audio

Dependencies

Backend

• axum - HTTP web framework
• candle - ML framework for running Parler-TTS model
• tokio - Async runtime
• tower-http - HTTP middleware (CORS, static files)

Frontend

• wasm-bindgen - Rust/WASM/JS interop
• web-sys - Web API bindings for audio recording
• js-sys - JavaScript type bindings

Hardware Requirements

• CPU: Any modern CPU (Intel/AMD/ARM)
• GPU (optional): NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support or Apple Silicon for acceleration
• RAM: Minimum 4GB, 8GB+ recommended for better performance
• Storage: ~2GB for model files (downloaded automatically)

License

MIT or APACHE