dblessing Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 We've noticed a weird issue where if we're playing music in a room, and ask Josh a question, before he responds there's a temporary burst of full volume music. It's really annoying and I'd love to get to the bottom of it. Has anyone ever had this problem? We have a Triad 8x8 audio matrix. Here's a video. Nevermind the dirty ceiling - needs cleaned after some trim work. IMG_1529.MOV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoe Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Can you mention more about your setup with Josh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblessing Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Josh Core with Josh Nanos/Micros. Audio output from Josh Core to Triad matrix. Integrated with C4 Core 5. Someone in Discord suggests it was a known issue and should have been resolved. Maybe there’s some additional config required. I am reaching out to Josh support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QLOGIC Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 i have the same issue, would love a fix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblessing Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 On 3/24/2024 at 8:15 AM, QLOGIC said: i have the same issue, would love a fix Josh support added a delay in my Josh Core server. They said the issue is Josh tells the matrix to switch inputs and then changes the volume faster than the matrix can switch the input. This moment when the volume is changed but input is still on music causes a potentially loud blip of music. In quick testing, it does seem to address the problem. I'll test more today as we listen to music and use Josh. Currently, this setting can only be changed by Josh support. I asked how the delay they set compares to the audio out response delay setting found in the app. They responded: > Josh Wakes->Tells matrix to switch inputs->Back end delay I (Josh Support) added->Set the volume to the response volume->Portal (app) delay->Start responding Hope this helps others who encounter this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Control4 announcements have a similar problem when switching back to music. The switch back happens too fast compared to the volume change (reduction in most cases) to revert to normal volume. No amount of playing around with delays in the announcement agent ever fixed this for me. I must say this sort of thing is one of the most irritating things about home automation as one expects it to simply work. Glad Josh could fix your issue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblessing Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 4 minutes ago, South Africa C4 user said: Control4 announcements have a similar problem when switching back to music. The switch back happens too fast compared to the volume change (reduction in most cases) to revert to normal volume. No amount of playing around with delays in the announcement agent ever fixed this for me. I must say this sort of thing is one of the most irritating things about home automation as one expects it to simply work. Glad Josh could fix your issue! Interesting. I haven't used audio announcements yet but will keep an ear out for that problem. Not to get too far off topic, but where do you source your audio files for announcements? Do you record something? One thing I'd love to be able to do is have Josh make a verbal announcement but I don't think it's possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Honestly the real fix at this time is to ensure the announcement audio file is louder so change in volume is at least limited in most cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpencerT Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 2 minutes ago, dblessing said: Interesting. I haven't used audio announcements yet but will keep an ear out for that problem. Not to get too far off topic, but where do you source your audio files for announcements? Do you record something? One thing I'd love to be able to do is have Josh make a verbal announcement but I don't think it's possible. Next best thing to creating josh scenes to trigger josh announcements: https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/text-to-speech-driver/ Absolutely love this driver and love not having to upload canned announcements. One thing to note if you go down this path - Google has multiple voices to choose. The standard voices are free but you will eventually pay usage on the "studio" voices. I hope that Josh adds a native feature to push announcements from c4 in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblessing Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 1 minute ago, SpencerT said: Next best thing to creating josh scenes to trigger josh announcements: https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/text-to-speech-driver/ Absolutely love this driver and love not having to upload canned announcements. One thing to note if you go down this path - Google has multiple voices to choose. The standard voices are free but you will eventually pay usage on the "studio" voices. I hope that Josh adds a native feature to push announcements from c4 in the future. You mention Josh scenes and Josh announcements, but if I understand correctly, the mentioned driver doesn't involved Josh at all? Also, the driver requires internet access to execute the announcements each time, right? Usually that should be fine but it would be great to have the peace of mind that announcements would execute regardless of internet or cloud services. One idea I had, but I haven't tried yet, is to make a recording of Josh saying something, then upload that to C4 as an announcement. This *might* work because you can tell Josh, "Say 'Here is some text'" and Josh will happily repeat that for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 7 minutes ago, SpencerT said: Next best thing to creating josh scenes to trigger josh announcements: https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/text-to-speech-driver/ Absolutely love this driver and love not having to upload canned announcements. One thing to note if you go down this path - Google has multiple voices to choose. The standard voices are free but you will eventually pay usage on the "studio" voices. I hope that Josh adds a native feature to push announcements from c4 in the future. I use this also… great driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpencerT Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Just now, dblessing said: You mention Josh scenes and Josh announcements, but if I understand correctly, the mentioned driver doesn't involved Josh at all? Also, the driver requires internet access to execute the announcements each time, right? Usually that should be fine but it would be great to have the peace of mind that announcements would execute regardless of internet or cloud services. One idea I had, but I haven't tried yet, is to make a recording of Josh saying something, then upload that to C4 as an announcement. This *might* work because you can tell Josh, "Say 'Here is some text'" and Josh will happily repeat that for you. Correct, this driver doesn't require Josh at all. It does require Internet access. There are text to speech sites you can download wav files from to use for announcements if You're concerned about Internet access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QLOGIC Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 21 minutes ago, dblessing said: Interesting. I haven't used audio announcements yet but will keep an ear out for that problem. Not to get too far off topic, but where do you source your audio files for announcements? Do you record something? One thing I'd love to be able to do is have Josh make a verbal announcement but I don't think it's possible. Perfect I will ask them to do that as well. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 11 minutes ago, Cyknight said: Honestly the real fix at this time is to ensure the announcement audio file is louder so change in volume is at least limited in most cases. Hmmm… that is an interesting idea. Not practical at this stage for those of us using text to speech drivers which don’t (currently) have a volume option. @Shivam Paw - still love your text to speech driver. Is there any way to add a volume setting in the driver (I.e. increase the volume of the recorded announcement) instead of using a higher volume in the announcement that is being played. That would solve the problem highlighted above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QLOGIC Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Just messaged support they are doing it for me as well. damn there support is quick. there support is top notch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivam Paw Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 9 minutes ago, South Africa C4 user said: Hmmm… that is an interesting idea. Not practical at this stage for those of us using text to speech drivers which don’t (currently) have a volume option. @Shivam Paw - still love your text to speech driver. Is there any way to add a volume setting in the driver (I.e. increase the volume of the recorded announcement) instead of using a higher volume in the announcement that is being played. That would solve the problem highlighted above. Interesting. It's probably possible, the only thing is figuring out when an announcement ends. I'm not sure from memory if that's possible and if it's not, then reverting to the previous volume becomes a bit of a guessing game? Side note, those who are looking for the announcements driver not to rely on internet. What if it cached the files we get from the TTS system? I'd need to think about it some more as we don't really want to cache dozens of announcements a day (caching a different weather temperature every day would be pointless). But maybe caching "static" announcements could work, and therefore also speed them up. South Africa C4 user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblessing Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 17 minutes ago, Shivam Paw said: Interesting. It's probably possible, the only thing is figuring out when an announcement ends. I'm not sure from memory if that's possible and if it's not, then reverting to the previous volume becomes a bit of a guessing game? Side note, those who are looking for the announcements driver not to rely on internet. What if it cached the files we get from the TTS system? I'd need to think about it some more as we don't really want to cache dozens of announcements a day (caching a different weather temperature every day would be pointless). But maybe caching "static" announcements could work, and therefore also speed them up. I’m not 100% certain but I believe there’s some ability to remember and revert room state using Room Control driver. I haven’t tried it yet but that would be a good place to start probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivam Paw Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 1 minute ago, dblessing said: I’m not 100% certain but I believe there’s some ability to remember and revert room state using Room Control driver. I haven’t tried it yet but that would be a good place to start probably. I think the issue would still remain right? When should the volume get reverted - I don't think there's a way to know when the announcement has actually finished playing. What if there was an ability to specify a volume setting to the TTS engines we use. So if you wanted the announcement volumes higher/lower, it can be set in properties and the resulting wav/mp3 is simply a higher/lower volume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 11 minutes ago, Shivam Paw said: I think the issue would still remain right? When should the volume get reverted - I don't think there's a way to know when the announcement has actually finished playing. What if there was an ability to specify a volume setting to the TTS engines we use. So if you wanted the announcement volumes higher/lower, it can be set in properties and the resulting wav/mp3 is simply a higher/lower volume? This is exactly what I think would solve (work around) the underlying problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoe Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 After playing with Josh a bit I'm convinced that using Sonos for each zone is likely the most agreeable approach to Josh responses and room audio. Too bad Sonos doesn't make a rack solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopedogg88 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 On 3/25/2024 at 9:22 AM, SpencerT said: Next best thing to creating josh scenes to trigger josh announcements: https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/text-to-speech-driver/ Absolutely love this driver and love not having to upload canned announcements. One thing to note if you go down this path - Google has multiple voices to choose. The standard voices are free but you will eventually pay usage on the "studio" voices. I hope that Josh adds a native feature to push announcements from c4 in the future. It is possible to trigger an announcement out to Josh devices from Control4, using the Generic TCP driver and a Josh scene. For example I set it up for a client who wanted to have his micros play a doorbell announcement when someone pressed the button on his Ring doorbell. This also required the Ring driver for C4 of course. Not sure if that's what you're referring to or not. SpencerT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpencerT Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 4 minutes ago, chopedogg88 said: It is possible to trigger an announcement out to Josh devices from Control4, using the Generic TCP driver and a Josh scene. For example I set it up for a client who wanted to have his micros play a doorbell announcement when someone pressed the button on his Ring doorbell. This also required the Ring driver for C4 of course. Not sure if that's what you're referring to or not. Thanks Ari. I didn't even think of using the tcp driver. I'll have to give it a shot. Right now I'm doing it with Josh scenes watching some dummy switches but it's quickly becoming unmanageable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivam Paw Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 On 3/25/2024 at 4:21 PM, South Africa C4 user said: This is exactly what I think would solve (work around) the underlying problem. For Google TTS this should be possible. I'm prepping a release later this week so i'll try to get it added into it South Africa C4 user and SpencerT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivam Paw Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Hey, sorry for the delay on this. V20 of my TTS driver adds support for Google Speech Volume (and supports 3.4.2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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