How do I link to an external audio file?

Owned by Rajkiran Alla (Deactivated)
Last updated: Mar 07, 2020 by markmetcalfemm (Unlicensed)
2 min read

Problem

I don't know where to link to an external audio file?

Where to link an external audio file?

Solution

You can link to an MP3 audio file by inserting the link into the Audio Url text field, but note the following important requirements:

  • The MP3 must be hosted at an Internet-accessible HTTPS endpoint. HTTPS is required, and the domain hosting the MP3 file must present a valid, trustedSSL certificate. Self-signed certificates cannot be used.

  • The MP3 must not contain any customer-specific or other sensitive information.

  • The MP3 must be a valid MP3 file (MPEG version 2).

  • The audio file cannot be longer than 90 seconds.

  • The bit rate must be 48 kbps, which gives a good result when used with spoken content but is generally not a high enough quality for music.

  • The sample rate must be 16000 Hz.

You may need to use converter software to convert your audio files to the required codec version (MPEG version 2) and bit rate (48 kbps). One option for this is a command-line tool, FFmpeg. The following command converts the provided <input-file> to an MP3 file that works with the audio tag.

ffmpeg -i <input-file> -ac 2 -codec:a libmp3lame -b:a 48k -ar 16000 <output-file.mp3>

You also can upload an audio file, such as a WAV file from your iPhone. See Insert Audio in How Can I control the way text is spoken? Orbita transforms audio files into MP3 format using codec version MPEG version 2 and a bit rate of 48 kbps.

See also Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Reference.

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