What makes AudioStack sound so good?

Have you ever turned off a podcast after only 30 seconds because the presenter's voice just did not convince you? Or have you been unable to enjoy a song by your favorite band even though everything seemed to be right?

"Audio is detail" is a common saying among those in the know. If you've ever been part of a lengthy discussion about an audio mix or - god forbid - were sucked into an hour long debate about the merits of different envelopes or saturation settings, you will appreciate how all these details affect audio quality. If you are not - lucky you. However, you do not have to be aware of the intricacies of audio production to appreciate the benefits of quality audio: it makes audiences listen longer, makes ads more effective, enhances engagement, creates a more captivating and enjoyable experience, builds credibility and trust, and signals a commitment to excellence. Whether it's ads, video, games, music, e-books, podcasts, or sound design for film; audio quality elevates the final product and leaves a positive impression. 

When we set out to build AudioStack, it was all about quality from the beginning. Above, you see a picture of “The Bird Zen”: the AudioStack Product Charter. A copy of it is on display in every AudioStack office and it comes up in product team meetings when decisions need to be made. The fact that Number 1 and Number 10 are the same is not a mistake, of course. AudioStack is all about quality and in the following we want to discuss the 3 main reasons why AudioStack sounds so good.  

1 - "Audio" is usually more than just voice

When media professionals discover the possibilities of AI production, AI ‘Text-to-Speech’ is normally the first touchpoint. It is also often used synonymously with ”AI Audio”. However, if you listen to any traditionally recorded audio asset such as a video voiceover, an audio ad or a podcast, you will hear that speech is only one ingredient in a complex recording: Even in podcasts, where you might only hear speech, there is normally a lot of technology involved to make sure that speech sounds natural, complex effect chains are applied to ensure the speech is pleasant to the ear, and the right leveling avoids that the listener does not hear any distortion. At the end, a finalisation process called “mastering” makes sure it has the production quality that it takes to keep the listener interested.   

Therefore, AudioStack not only offers Text-To-Speech (TTS) from 15 different providers, it also streamlines human voice recording, makes voice cloning accessible out of the box and offers Speech-To-Speech for users that need to get the delivery just right. The speech recordings that are produced are then processed in a way that a sound engineer would do - AudioStack is using automated effect chains and Machine Learning to process that audio. Whenever one of our users says, “But I used that same voice outside AudioStack but it does not sound this good”, this is usually the reason. AudioStack also makes sure that you can use any mix of the above: eg, voices from different TTS speech providers, human voice recordings and Speech-To-Speech in the same track, and it will sound amazing.

Hence AudioStack goes far beyond speech. It handles the entire audio production process to make audio sounds truly great: AudioStack makes it easy to get production assets (eg a jingle, a script or an existing recording) into a format where it feeds nicely into an AI-led audio production process. It then takes care of the speech part(s) (above), but also algorithmically emulates everything that is going on in an audio production process: from music to mix and arrangement. Lastly, a flexible mastering engine makes sure it sounds as professional and complete as any audio production you hear in a professional setting.    

To find out more, you can start by looking into the selection of 15 voice providers in the AudioStack voice library or maybe draw some inspiration from this video that showcases the versatility of these voices and how good they sound when embedded into a proper production.

2 - Good sounding audio usually takes a lot of technology

You probably have a mental image of a production studio that is stuffed with tons of hardware, mixers and microphones. Even if you might see modern producers today, with not much more than a Macbook, the underlying truth has not changed as that very Macbook is normally stuffed with tons and tons of audio software. It still takes a lot of refined technology to make audio sound professional. 

As described above, the key to good sounding audio is to bring together various elements in a meaningful way that requires a lot of attention to detail. AudioStack provides an entire audio production infrastructure in the cloud, accessible through one API. It allows companies building with AudioStack to scale their production processes to incredible volumes and automation levels without compromising on quality. It allows these companies to master the same level of detail and refinement their internal creative teams care about to get to a great result: With AudioStack, they can even configure their effect chains, import or clone their brand voices and rely on production components that have made their audio great. 

If you want to learn all about the enormous technical capabilities that AudioStack makes available through the API, you can start by visiting our developer portal or get in at the deep end by going straight to the docs.

3 - Humans (and ears) are there for a reason 

Lastly, it is important to understand that audio will always be produced to appeal to humans (with ears). We believe that AI will fundamentally reshape the processes of how audio and any kind of media is produced, but AI will neither replace human ears (or who else will that very audio be played to?) nor human creativity. One of the reasons why AudioStack sounds so good is that it manages to capture and automate the mechanical elements of the production process to allow more room to create truly innovative things. All that while drastically increasing the options and the flexibility for those who are making audio production happen on an every day basis. This is the reason why AudioStack has an extensive partner network that offers thousands of options through AudioStack - whether it is dozens of voice or music providers, connectors, data, or processing: It is designed to plug into any team’s creative process and enables the integration into their established workflows. 

At AudioStack, we consider ourselves as part of the creative community. We aim to 10x a team’s creativity and allow them to get the same things done with only 10% of the effort. We have a creative team in-house that makes sure we are staying true to the mission of creating high quality audio, rather than MP3 files. 

If you want to learn more about AudioStack’s commitment to supercharge creativity, you can start by having a listen at this talk by AudioStack’s Creative Director, Sam Crowther or have a read of our customer stories. Additionally, why not get creative yourself by generating your audio ad here.

“If it does not sound great, we don’t ship it”: if you want to learn more about AudioStack’s commitment to enable companies to produce high quality audio, book a demo and see what AudioStack can do for your company.