Getting started
Do I need an Azure account to use Speech Studio?
Not for a quick test — the Free download includes a $1 test credit so you can try the voices without Azure. For anything beyond that, get Pro and set up your own Azure Speech Service resource; on the F0 tier Microsoft gives you 9 hours of TTS per month free.
Which Azure region?
Currently only East US. Support for other regions is on the roadmap.
Azure billing
Which pricing tier should my Speech resource be on?
F0 (Free). That tier carries the 500,000 characters (≈9 hours) per month of free standard Neural TTS. S0 (Standard) has no free allowance and bills every character. Check: Azure Portal → your Speech resource → Overview → Pricing tier.
I set up my own key but Azure is still charging me
Your resource is on S0. Azure can't downgrade S0 to F0, so create a new Speech resource on F0, paste its key into Speech Studio, and delete the S0 one. See fix an S0 resource.
Why were my first Azure invoices $0 and then charges started?
New Azure accounts get a one-time $200 credit for 30 days. It cancels out charges on any tier, then expires. If your resource is on S0, billing starts the day the credit ends. The F0 allowance, by contrast, renews every month. More in Cost management.
Voices & TTS
What's the difference between Neural and Dragon HD?
Dragon HD Latest Neural is Azure's newest, highest-quality voice model — noticeably more natural on longer passages. HD and MAI-Voice voices are billed at a higher per-character rate than standard Neural and are not included in the F0 free allowance. Not every voice is available in HD yet.
Can I clone my own voice?
Yes, using Azure's Custom Neural Voice feature — requires a separate Azure approval process (Microsoft gates this to prevent misuse). Once approved, Speech Studio works with your custom voice like any other.
Why does my voice sound robotic?
You might be on an older Neural voice or have prosody cranked to extreme values. Try switching to a Dragon HD voice and reset rate/pitch to default. Also try SSML with natural pauses instead of relying on punctuation alone.
Transcription
What audio formats work?
WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC. For video files (MP4, MOV), extract audio first or use Dub Video which includes transcription.
Why is transcription inaccurate?
Usually one of: noisy source audio, wrong language specified, or heavy accent. Try: (1) cleaner input, (2) pick specific regional variant (en-IN instead of en-US), (3) split long audio into 10-minute chunks.
Dubbing
Why is video dubbing so slow?
Azure Video Translation is batch mode — expect 2–4× video length. A 10-minute video takes 20–40 minutes.
What language pairs work well?
English ↔ Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin work great. Niche pairs (e.g. Welsh → Vietnamese) are weaker — test on a short clip first.
Licensing
What's the difference between Yearly and Lifetime?
Yearly = renews each year, cancellable. Lifetime = one-time purchase, yours forever (includes all future updates).
Can I use Speech Studio on multiple machines?
One license = one machine at a time. Deactivate on one to activate on another — no hassle.
Couldn't find your answer?
See troubleshooting or email [email protected].