# MiniMax Speech 2.6 {% hint style="success" %} **Released:** March 4, 2026 — MiniMax just dropped Speech 2.6 with ultra-low latency, enhanced format handling, and human-like voice for real-time Voice Agent scenarios. {% endhint %} **MiniMax Speech 2.6** is a state-of-the-art text-to-speech model designed for real-time voice agent applications. It features ultra-low end-to-end latency, improved audio format handling (MP3, PCM, WAV, FLAC), and a significantly more natural voice compared to Speech 2.x. Best used via API, but can be integrated into self-hosted pipelines via the MiniMax API. ### Key Features | Feature | Details | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | Latency | Ultra-low (< 300ms TTFB) | | Voice Quality | Human-like, natural prosody | | Languages | 20+ languages including English, Chinese, Russian | | Output Formats | MP3, PCM, WAV, FLAC | | Use Case | Voice agents, real-time TTS, streaming | | API | OpenAI-compatible REST API | ### Why MiniMax Speech 2.6? * **Sub-300ms latency** — suitable for real-time conversation agents * **Streaming support** — token-by-token audio streaming for lowest perceived latency * **Voice cloning** — clone from short audio samples * **Production-ready** — powers MiniMax's own commercial voice products *** ## Setup: Self-Hosted API Proxy on Clore.ai MiniMax Speech 2.6 is currently API-based. You can run a lightweight FastAPI proxy on a small Clore.ai server (even CPU-only) to integrate it into your pipeline: ```yaml version: "3.8" services: minimax-proxy: image: python:3.11-slim ports: - "8080:8080" environment: - MINIMAX_API_KEY=${MINIMAX_API_KEY} - MINIMAX_GROUP_ID=${MINIMAX_GROUP_ID} volumes: - ./app:/app command: > sh -c "pip install fastapi uvicorn httpx python-dotenv && uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080" ``` ### Minimal FastAPI Proxy (`app/main.py`) ```python import os, httpx from fastapi import FastAPI from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse from pydantic import BaseModel app = FastAPI() MINIMAX_API_KEY = os.environ["MINIMAX_API_KEY"] MINIMAX_GROUP_ID = os.environ["MINIMAX_GROUP_ID"] BASE_URL = "https://api.minimax.io/v1" class TTSRequest(BaseModel): text: str voice_id: str = "Calm_Woman" speed: float = 1.0 output_format: str = "mp3" @app.post("/tts") async def text_to_speech(req: TTSRequest): """Proxy to MiniMax Speech 2.6""" async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=30) as client: response = await client.post( f"{BASE_URL}/t2a_v2?GroupId={MINIMAX_GROUP_ID}", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {MINIMAX_API_KEY}"}, json={ "model": "speech-02-hd", "text": req.text, "stream": False, "voice_setting": { "voice_id": req.voice_id, "speed": req.speed, "vol": 1.0, "pitch": 0 }, "audio_setting": { "sample_rate": 32000, "bitrate": 128000, "format": req.output_format } } ) data = response.json() audio_b64 = data["data"]["audio"] import base64 audio_bytes = base64.b64decode(audio_b64) return StreamingResponse( iter([audio_bytes]), media_type=f"audio/{req.output_format}" ) @app.get("/health") async def health(): return {"status": "ok", "model": "minimax-speech-2.6"} ``` ### Usage ```bash # Test TTS endpoint curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/tts \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"text": "Hello! This is MiniMax Speech 2.6 running on Clore.", "voice_id": "Calm_Woman"}' \ --output output.mp3 # Play the result ffplay output.mp3 ``` *** ## Direct API Usage (No Server Needed) If you just need TTS in your scripts: ```python import requests, base64, os API_KEY = os.environ["MINIMAX_API_KEY"] GROUP_ID = os.environ["MINIMAX_GROUP_ID"] def synthesize(text: str, voice_id: str = "Calm_Woman") -> bytes: resp = requests.post( f"https://api.minimax.io/v1/t2a_v2?GroupId={GROUP_ID}", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}, json={ "model": "speech-02-hd", "text": text, "stream": False, "voice_setting": {"voice_id": voice_id, "speed": 1.0, "vol": 1.0, "pitch": 0}, "audio_setting": {"sample_rate": 32000, "bitrate": 128000, "format": "mp3"} } ) return base64.b64decode(resp.json()["data"]["audio"]) audio = synthesize("Running AI workloads on Clore.ai is incredibly affordable.") with open("output.mp3", "wb") as f: f.write(audio) ``` *** ## Available Voice IDs | Voice ID | Character | Best For | | ---------------- | -------------- | --------------------- | | `Calm_Woman` | Calm female | Assistants, narration | | `Energetic_Man` | Energetic male | Marketing, news | | `Gentle_Man` | Gentle male | Audiobooks, tutorials | | `Cute_Girl` | Young female | Entertainment | | `Deep_Voice_Man` | Deep male | Documentaries | *** ## GPU Requirements on Clore.ai {% hint style="info" %} MiniMax Speech 2.6 is an API-based model — you don't need a GPU to use it. A small CPU-only Clore.ai server ($0.10–0.30/day) is sufficient to run the proxy. Combine with other GPU workloads on the same server for maximum efficiency. {% endhint %} | Server Type | Use Case | Clore.ai Cost | | ----------------- | ----------------------- | ---------------- | | CPU only (2 vCPU) | Proxy + API gateway | \~$0.10–0.20/day | | RTX 3060 | Proxy + local GPU tasks | \~$0.37/day | | RTX 4090 | Proxy + heavy GPU work | \~$2.10/day | *** ## Clore.ai Port Forwarding | Port | Service | | ---- | ----------------- | | 8080 | FastAPI TTS proxy | *** ## Alternatives on Clore.ai If you need **fully local** TTS without API calls: | Model | VRAM | Quality | Speed | Guide | | ---------- | ---- | ------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Kokoro TTS | 4GB | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Fast | [Kokoro TTS](https://docs.clore.ai/guides/audio-and-voice/kokoro-tts) | | F5-TTS | 8GB | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Medium | [F5-TTS](https://docs.clore.ai/guides/audio-and-voice/f5-tts) | | Chatterbox | 6GB | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Fast | [Chatterbox](https://docs.clore.ai/guides/audio-and-voice/chatterbox-tts) | | Qwen3-TTS | 8GB | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Medium | [Qwen3-TTS](https://docs.clore.ai/guides/audio-and-voice/qwen3-tts) | | Kani-TTS-2 | 3GB | ⭐⭐⭐ | Very fast | [Kani-TTS](https://docs.clore.ai/guides/audio-and-voice/kani-tts) | *** ## Links * **MiniMax API Docs:** [platform.minimax.io/docs](https://platform.minimax.io/docs) * **Speech 2.6 Blog Post:** [minimax.io/news/minimax-speech-26](https://www.minimax.io/news/minimax-speech-26) * **Clore.ai Marketplace:** [clore.ai/marketplace](https://clore.ai/marketplace)