⚠️ Work in Progress: This is a fork of boilthesea/audiblez and is currently under active development. It has only been tested on Windows and may not work properly on other operating systems.
📝 Note: Kokoro TTS has been fully removed from this fork. This version uses Chatterbox-TTS exclusively for speech synthesis.
Audiblez generates .m4b audiobooks from regular .epub e-books,
using Chatterbox-TTS for high-quality speech synthesis.
Chatterbox-TTS is a modern text-to-speech system supporting voice cloning and advanced model parameters for natural, expressive output. It currently supports a wide range of languages and voices.
- Python 3.9 to 3.12 (Python 3.13+ is not supported)
- Git
ffmpegandespeak-nginstalled on your system
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/Stoobs/audiblez-chatterbox.git
cd audiblez-chatterbox- Install system dependencies:
# Windows (using chocolatey or manual installation)
choco install ffmpeg
# Download and install espeak-ng from: https://github.com/espeak-ng/espeak-ng/releases
# Ubuntu/Debian (untested with this fork)
sudo apt install ffmpeg espeak-ng
# macOS (untested with this fork)
brew install ffmpeg espeak-ng- Install Python dependencies:
pip install -e .Convert an epub to audiobook using default voice:
audiblez book.epubThe tool will create book_chapter_1.wav, book_chapter_2.wav, etc. files, and then combine them into a book.m4b audiobook file that you can play with VLC or any audiobook player.
To use a custom voice, provide an audio sample file:
audiblez book.epub --voice-sample path/to/voice_sample.wavThe voice sample should be a clear audio file (wav, mp3, etc.) of the voice you want to clone.
The GUI is a simple graphical interface to use audiblez. After installing the main package as described above, you may need additional GUI dependencies:
# install GUI dependencies
pip install pillow wxpython
# Ubuntu/Debian (untested - may need additional packages)
sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev
pip install pillow wxpython
# macOS (untested)
pip install pillow wxpythonThen you can run the GUI with:
audiblez-uiSince this fork has only been tested on Windows, here's the recommended Windows installation process:
-
Open a Windows terminal (PowerShell or Command Prompt)
-
Clone and navigate to the project:
git clone https://github.com/Stoobs/audiblez-chatterbox.git
cd audiblez-chatterbox- Create and activate a virtual environment:
python -m venv venv
.\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1-
Install system dependencies:
- Install
ffmpeg: Download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html or usechoco install ffmpeg - Install
espeak-ng: Download from https://github.com/espeak-ng/espeak-ng/releases
- Install
-
Install Python dependencies:
pip install -m requirements.txt
pip install .- Run the application:
audiblez book.epub
# or for GUI
audiblez-ui- For CUDA support (optional):
- Install PyTorch with CUDA support: https://pytorch.org/get-started/locally/
- Use the
--cudaflag when running audiblez
By default the audio is generated using a normal speed, but you can make it up to twice slower or faster by specifying a speed argument between 0.5 to 2.0:
audiblez book.epubYou can also combine speed with voice cloning:
audiblez book.epub --voice-sample path/to/voice.wavThis fork uses Chatterbox-TTS for voice synthesis, which supports voice cloning from audio samples rather than predefined voice selections.
Instead of selecting from a predefined list of voices, you can clone any voice by providing an audio sample:
audiblez book.epub --voice-sample path/to/voice_sample.wav- Format: WAV, MP3, or other common audio formats
- Length: 10-30 seconds of clear speech
- Quality: Clean audio with minimal background noise
- Content: Natural speech (not singing or shouting)
- Language: Should match the language of your text for best results
If no --voice-sample is provided, Chatterbox-TTS will use its default voice synthesis.
For more information about Chatterbox-TTS capabilities, visit: Chatterbox-TTS Repository
By default, audiblez runs on CPU. If you pass the option --cuda it will try to use the Cuda device via Torch.
Check out this example: Audiblez running on a Google Colab Notebook with Cuda .
We don't currently support Apple Silicon, as there is not yet a Chatterbox-TTS implementation in MLX. As soon as it will be available, we will support it.
Sometimes you want to manually select which chapters/sections in the e-book to read out loud.
To do so, you can use --pick to interactively choose the chapters to convert (without running the GUI).
For all the options available, you can check the help page audiblez --help:
usage: audiblez [-h] [-p] [-s SPEED] [-c] [-o FOLDER] [--voice-sample FILE] epub_file_path
positional arguments:
epub_file_path Path to the epub file
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-p, --pick Interactively select which chapters to read in the audiobook
-s SPEED, --speed SPEED
Set speed from 0.5 to 2.0 (default: 1.0)
-c, --cuda Use GPU via Cuda in Torch if available
-o FOLDER, --output FOLDER
Output folder for the audiobook and temporary files
--voice-sample FILE Path to audio file for voice cloning (optional)
examples:
audiblez book.epub --pick
audiblez book.epub --speed 1.5 --voice-sample voice.wav
audiblez book.epub --cuda --output ./audiobooks/
to run GUI:
audiblez-ui
Note: Chatterbox-TTS uses audio prompt files for voice cloning.
Voice selection is handled through the GUI or audio prompt files.
Originally by Claudio Santini in 2025, distributed under MIT licence.
This fork is maintained by Stoobs based on the work from boilthesea/audiblez.
Related Article: Audiblez v4: Generate Audiobooks from E-books