Building a Text-to-Speech Server on Windows 10

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to set up a Text-to-Speech (TTS) server on a Windows 10 PC using open-source tools, specifically Coqui TTS and a simple Flask-based server to handle HTTP requests.

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 PC with internet access

• Basic familiarity with command-line interfaces

• Python 3.8 or higher installed

Step 1: Install Python

1. Download the latest Python version from python.org.

2. Run the installer, ensuring to check “Add Python to PATH” during installation.

3. Verify installation by opening Command Prompt (cmd) and typing:

   python --version

   You should see the Python version number.

Step 2: Set Up a Virtual Environment

1. Open Command Prompt and navigate to your project directory:

   cd C:\path\to\your\project

2. Create a virtual environment:

   python -m venv tts_env

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   tts_env\Scripts\activate

   Your prompt should now show (tts_env).

Step 3: Install Coqui TTS

1. With the virtual environment activated, install Coqui TTS:

   pip install TTS

2. Verify installation:

   tts --list_models

   This lists available TTS models.

Step 4: Install Flask

1. Install Flask to create the web server:

   pip install flask

Step 5: Create the TTS Server Script

1. Create a new file named tts_server.py in your project directory.

2. Add the following code to tts_server.py:

from flask import Flask, request, send_file from TTS.api import TTS import os import tempfile

app = Flask(name)

Initialize TTS model (use a fast model for demo purposes)

tts = TTS(model_name=”tts_models/en/ljspeech/tacotron2-DDC”, progress_bar=False, gpu=False)

@app.route(‘/tts’, methods=[‘POST’]) def text_to_speech(): # Get text from request text = request.json.get(‘text’, ”) if not text: return {“error”: “No text provided”}, 400

# Create temporary file for audio output
with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False, suffix=".wav") as temp_file:
    output_path = temp_file.name

# Generate speech
tts.tts_to_file(text=text, file_path=output_path)

# Send audio file
response = send_file(output_path, mimetype='audio/wav')

# Clean up
os.unlink(output_path)

return response

if name == ‘main‘: app.run(host=’0.0.0.0’, port=5000)