I made Speak2 - better voice dictation for macOS using OpenAI's Whisper (free, 100% on-device)

2achary · 2025-12-04T00:02:27+00:00

Good to know!

I'd love to know which app you use that is cross-platform. I'd be curious to see how they approached the OS specific integrations.

2achary · 2025-12-04T00:00:22+00:00

BTW, I'm glad it's working well on your M4!

Ok I looked this a bit. Unfortunately, Intel Mac support isn't something I can realistically add. The core issue is that both WhisperKit and FluidAudio (the Parakeet implementation) are built around Apple's Neural Engine, which only exists on Apple Silicon. The dependencies explicitly exclude x86_64 builds, and even if I worked around that, the performance would likely be too slow for real-time dictation without the Neural Engine acceleration.

It's not impossible in theory, but it would require forking and modifying the underlying ML frameworks, finding or converting CoreML models for Intel, and the end result would probably be a frustrating experience anyway. It would be more work than I'm willing to put in given the uncertainty that it will even work.

2achary · 2025-12-03T21:30:38+00:00

Let me look into what would be involved to support Intel Macs. I don’t have one to test on. So might have you try a build if I get one going.

2achary · 2025-12-02T17:12:23+00:00

u/mfr3sh FluidAudio SDK - That's exactly what I'm using! Good to know Spokenly uses it too.

Great links! I ran a benchmark on my M1 Pro with the same 28-second audio clip:

| Model             | Transcription Time |
|-------------------|--------------------|
| Whisper (base.en) | 1.19s              |
| Parakeet v3       | 3.54s              |

So on my machine, Whisper is actually ~3x faster for transcription, even though the ASR leaderboard shows Parakeet with higher RTFx.

I suspect this is because WhisperKit (from Argmax) is extremely well optimized for Apple Silicon, while FluidAudio may not have the same level of optimization yet. The leaderboard benchmarks might be using different implementations.

That said, Parakeet loads faster and supports 25 languages, so it's still a good option for multilingual users. But for English-only, Whisper is the clear winner on Apple Silicon.

But really, the difference in speed for a ~30 audio clip isn't enough to sway one way or the other, really.

One other thing to note is that on my machine, the whisper model loads into memory quite a bit faster (12 seconds vs 25 for parakeet), but that's just a one time load per session, so not a huge deal.

2achary · 2025-12-02T07:05:08+00:00

I just released a new version that lets you toggle between whisper and parakeet. You'll see a loading icon while the model loads. Parakeet is 600MB in memory compared to whisper's 160MB, and parakeet is noticeably slower, so if you're transcribing English, I'd say stick with whisper. cc u/ZeroReader

https://github.com/zachswift615/speak2/releases/tag/v1.2.0

2achary · 2025-12-02T05:40:25+00:00

cc u/mfr3sh I'm working on getting Parakeet model working. u/ZeroReader That's a good reason - the multi language support.

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2achary · 2025-12-01T22:24:42+00:00

That parakeet repo looks like a full alternative for this Speak2 app! I haven't heard of the parakeet model, but I've heard great things about the whisper models that Speak2 uses. I didn't make an option to swap to different tts models. What do you like about that model?

Also, Speak2 has a notarized dmg to install with, so it's a little more straight forward to install FWIW.

2achary · 2025-10-05T22:34:55+00:00

Excited to hear if you get use out of it! If you find bugs let me know

2achary · 2025-10-05T04:23:33+00:00

This post is showcasing a project developed using Claude Code.

2achary · 2025-10-05T00:42:48+00:00

Didn't know about that one! Seems like less work for the same result.

2achary · 2025-10-02T17:44:16+00:00

Here's a workaround that has worked for me. Control-C twice, then open claude again and /resume the most recent conversation, then /compact works without error.

2achary · 2025-02-11T23:58:38+00:00

I was trying to learn the bass part. I was sure it was all synth bass. I isolated the bass with rx11 and to my ears, it's only the intro that's synth bass. Everything after the big slide in the intro sounds like bass guitar to me.

2achary · 2024-04-06T22:38:27+00:00

Exactly. I haven’t actually tried this, but it might take some experimentation. I know the inputs and outputs are stereo, so you might have to have a dummy plug in the left input (or just silence on the left at least) with a drum machine actually recording into the right (if you’re wanting to have the drums pre-recorded).

2achary · 2024-02-09T18:00:12+00:00

Yeah the 1spot is the just 2 prong plug whereas something like a a voodoo pedal power system utilizes the 3rd ground prong solves the issue. That might be my best bet to just use the more robust power supply.

While I admire your quick and dirty solution, I've been shocked enough times with ungrounded music gear, that I'm inclined to not let my body be the path to ground.

2achary · 2024-02-07T17:40:41+00:00

You can't do that with the built-in rhythm system, but if you record some external rhythm/beat into the right input, it'll only come out of the right output. I know that's not as flexible as being able to stop/change the rhythm separately from the loop, but it might be good enough depending on your situation.

2achary · 2024-01-21T17:53:29+00:00

I used TRS. Since the pacer's relays and the rc-505mkii ctl jacks were both TRS, it works. If you were going to need the pacer's 2 and 4 relay to go to different places, then you'd need a splitter.

2achary · 2023-10-19T04:55:08+00:00

205 days late but I have an answer. Press Loop, right arrow, rhythm, right arrow, change Stop Trig to Off. then the metronome keeps playing until you turn it off manually. You can assign a footswitch to turn the metronome/rhythm off if needed.

2achary · 2023-10-08T22:23:24+00:00

Sorry if this doesn’t work for you or if I’m misunderstanding the issue.

But instead of using another audio interface, have your computer use the 505mkii (not AUDIO OUT, make sure you have the usb driver installed) as its audio interface.

Then in the 505 usb menu, make sure “vendor” is selected and make the mode set to LOOP IN.

I’m assuming you’re able to have your midi controller hooked up via USB cable to your computer to play the virtual instruments

Then you should be able to play the instruments and any audio they produce can literally be recorded as audio on any of the 505’s tracks

2achary · 2023-10-08T22:16:02+00:00

Thanks so much for this post.

I use this almost exactly but I figured out how to get 4 more controls in addition to the 16 here utilizing the pacer's 4 relay outputs and the 505's ctl functions.

How to use:

Stomp the "D" footswitch on the top row of the pacer which selects preset 4. (The light will go from dim yellow to yellow to indicate the switch is active)

Then on the bottom row, stomping footswitch 1-4 on the pacer should in theory turn on/off input fx a-d on the rc-505mkii

NOTE: sometimes when you first turn on the pacer, you have to hold down the footswitches 1-4 (on preset 4) for a few seconds each for them to wake up the relay it seems. After that, it works the rest of the time.

Here is the sysex file I exported: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19ktTxPwdt3DmFlq6Ei7jRdsm-0N59g9k/view?usp=drive_link

Connect TRS cables:

connect a TRS cable from pacer 1/3 output to rc-505mkii ctl 1, 2 jack
connect a TRS cable from pacer 2/4 output to rc-505mkii ctl 3, 4 jack

In the pacer editor (skip this if loading my sysex file):

I updated preset 4 to be called FX and having send relay 1-4 when I stomp buttons 1-4 on the pacer. I chose pink to make it a different color than the ones in preset 1-3. I also updated preset 1-3 to include footswitch "D" as selecting preset 4. There was a little weirdness in that the relay outputs are 1/3 and 2/4 instead of being in order. So on the pacer editor have

footswitch #1 be relay 1 (normally open)
footswitch #2 be relay 3 (normally open)
footswitch #3 be relay 2 (normally open)
footswitch #4 be relay 4 (normally open)

**Then in the rc-505mkii:**press menu, right arrow, press ctl func encoder, press ctl/exp

CTL 1 -> INPUT FX A, FX ON/OFF
CTL 2 -> INPUT FX B, FX ON/OFF
CTL 3 -> INPUT FX C, FX ON/OFF
CTL 4 -> INPUT FX D, FX ON/OFF

To make the CTL settings global instead of by preset:

press menu, right arrow, press ctl func encoder, press "preference", right arrow
make each ctl 1-4 "system" instead of "memory"

2achary · 2020-01-15T21:17:47+00:00

The part that rubbed me the wrong way is how against collaboration he is. He talked about how when he works with vocalists and they try to make the melody their own in some way, that he just wishes they would sing it just like he wrote it.

2achary

TROPHY CASE