Descript's ElevenLabs voice library vs Sume TTS voices
Descript's voice picker now uses the ElevenLabs voice library. Sume text-to-speech uses its own voices, and blocks a voice-language mismatch with a 409.
Descript's 2026-09-17 changelog says its voice picker moved to the ElevenLabs voice library. If you want a script-driven voice instead, Sume's text-to-speech takes a Sume voice from its own library, and the route guards against choosing a voice in the wrong language: a known mismatch returns HTTP 409 tts_voice_language_mismatch before any job or charge.
Voices and language
Each voice stores a primary language. The request sets the target language with language on REST or payload.language on the MCP tool tts_create. Regional tags compare by primary language. Over MCP the mismatch arrives as a warning result with confirmation_required: true; retry with confirm_language_mismatch: true after asking the user. If the library has no metadata for a raw voice id, nothing blocks the request.
| Question | Descript picker | Sume text to speech |
|---|---|---|
| Voice source | ElevenLabs voice library | Sume voice library |
| Where you use it | Descript editor | REST or MCP tool |
| Language guard | Not described in the changelog | 409 before any charge |
| Result | Audio in the project | Job with an audio artifact |
Why the guard matters
A batch job that pairs a French voice with Korean text would otherwise waste credit. Failing before billing makes a bulk script safe to retry: use the same Idempotency-Key for the retry.
Honest limits
- Sume's voices are not ElevenLabs voices, and this post does not compare quality.
- The language check does not test pronunciation.
- Descript's changelog does not give voice counts or limits.
Sources
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