New voice for audio Book of Mormon

Any discussions around the Gospel Library App on various mobile and electronic devices.
TerriSnaithShields
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:41 pm

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#21

Post by TerriSnaithShields »

I agree with the assessment of the new narration of the scriptures. Here is a link to a FREE download of Bruce Lindsay's narration of the Book of Mormon: LDS.org still has the older recordings: https://www.lds.org/media-library/audio?lang=eng
MindyBurton
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:52 pm

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#22

Post by MindyBurton »

It makes me chuckle reading these comments because I love the current narrator. But I really am just grateful to have any audio version as I have ADD and struggle with reading bible verses, rereading lines on accident, etc.

So grateful for audio. I think someone mentioned above that bible verse can easily be read in many ways.
richard.ashcraft
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:08 pm

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#23

Post by richard.ashcraft »

Resurrecting this old thread with a bit of info and in hopes of some resolution.

Although the audio quality of the synthesized voices is generally good, there won’t be a time anywhere in the near future where they can match the emotion that a human reader can. The new voices are extremely distracting. I remember far less of what I listen to, even though I’ve read the Book of Mormon many times before.

I always prefer to read my scriptures (in a physical book) because it allows for more meaningful pondering, but I do have days where I must fall back to listening to my Book of Mormon. I can’t stand listening to the synthesized voices, so I don’t.

A few of weeks ago, I discovered that my app once again restored the better recordings, and I’ve really enjoyed listening most days while getting ready in the morning (might have been version 4.2.0). However, last week I discovered that it disappeared again (between chapters, while it was playing!), and I can only get the synthesized voices that, for me, are useless for scriptures.

I was hopeful that this meant they were bringing this back as an option. I opened up the settings to check, but strangely, the male/female option had disappeared from the settings.

This highlights that this is a service-controlled feature, meaning you can’t just hold on to an old version and have the audio you want. But there was some condition that allowed it to switch dynamically. Perhaps it’s the software developer in me, but I also wondered whether this happened because the development team at the Church was testing how the voices affect people’s willingness to listen.

I really want the recorded copy (the specific Bruce Lindsay version) as permanent option. When I was in my teens, this was the way I got through the Book of Mormon the first time as I prepared for my mission. I’d really like to use that feature, but I simply can’t stand doing so in the meantime.

Also - the link shared doesn’t seem to offer the good version. It just redirects to the Book of Mormon web pages on LDS.org, and that also has the synthesized voices. I also can’t track down the CDs for purchase, otherwise I would have already purchase and converted them for my smartphone.

Does anyone have a high quality copy of the good recordings they could post somewhere temporarily for download?
User avatar
sbradshaw
Community Moderators
Posts: 6245
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:42 pm
Location: Utah
Contact:

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#24

Post by sbradshaw »

richard.ashcraft wrote:A few of weeks ago, I discovered that my app once again restored the better recordings, and I’ve really enjoyed listening most days while getting ready in the morning (might have been version 4.2.0). However, last week I discovered that it disappeared again (between chapters, while it was playing!), and I can only get the synthesized voices that, for me, are useless for scriptures.

I was hopeful that this meant they were bringing this back as an option. I opened up the settings to check, but strangely, the male/female option had disappeared from the settings.

This highlights that this is a service-controlled feature, meaning you can’t just hold on to an old version and have the audio you want. But there was some condition that allowed it to switch dynamically. Perhaps it’s the software developer in me, but I also wondered whether this happened because the development team at the Church was testing how the voices affect people’s willingness to listen.

I really want the recorded copy (the specific Bruce Lindsay version) as permanent option.
Gospel Library 4 and up has never had the Bruce Lindsay recordings – if you got a different voice recently, it was either in different content (different sections of the Book of Mormon have different readers, and other content also has different readers) or the app switched to/from text-to-speech, which it falls back on if you aren't connected to the internet or if it can't find the audio for whatever reason (Android only). Last week there was a bug where the female voice audio recordings were temporarily missing from the Book of Mormon – this has been fixed with a content update.
richard.ashcraft wrote:Does anyone have a high quality copy of the good recordings they could post somewhere temporarily for download?
The LDS Media Library still has the older recordings: https://www.lds.org/media-library/audio?lang=eng
Though I expect them to go away at some point because the old recordings were based on an older edition of the scriptures.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
sueleemyr
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:02 pm

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#25

Post by sueleemyr »

With the new voice(s), I find myself trying to figure out if there are two male voices reading every other verse. Also, I don't care for the female voice reading the introductions.
aburke73
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 11:36 am

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#26

Post by aburke73 »

Still no leads on the older versions? No, they are not on the website anymore. : (
richard.ashcraft
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:08 pm

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#27

Post by richard.ashcraft »

I’ve found you can use the iOS podcasts app to subscribe to and download all of the old Book of Mormon recordings. That’s how I use them now.
marilyndickson
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:57 pm

New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#28

Post by marilyndickson »

Thank you, thank you, Gospel Library, for the new male voicing of the Book of Mormon. The old recording was so overacted it was hard to listen to without cringing. I know some people posting here disagree, but I am thrilled. Thank you!
biglerd
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2019 12:41 am

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#29

Post by biglerd »

lajackson wrote:
JohnCanaan wrote:I'm wondering why I'm the only one with this experience.
You're not. There are at least two of us. Maybe it does have something to do with our extended life experience.
Well, I'm 62 and my life experiences aside, I'll take the old readers ANY day over the new ones. When I listen to Paul or Nephi or whomever, if there is no passion or feeling in their voice, I have a difficult times imagining they are, in fact, Paul or Nephi... Can you imagine Paul speaking in a flat, monotone voice? THAT just isn't Paul. At least not the passionate Paul I've come to know and love.
italiasaint
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:51 am

Re: New voice for audio Book of Mormon

#30

Post by italiasaint »

With this new artificial voice for text to speech I have found that every time I want to listen to the scriptures I have to reset from female to male voice. The settings will not stick with my choice. This new artificial speech is so frustrating and off-putting and the only way to hear a human voice is to sign in to the church website. Please, please give us the option to use a human voice when listening in the LDS gospel library.
Post Reply

Return to “Gospel Library”