New voice for audio Book of Mormon

Is there any way to listen to the old voice that read the Book of Mormon? The app recently updated and the new male and female voice sound very robotic and it is quite distracting.

I noticed that when you get to 1 Nephi 15 the voices are the old voices, (Bruce Lindsay?) Maybe they are updating in segments.

LDS.org still has the older recordings: https://www.lds.org/media-library/audio?lang=eng

While it may be nice to have more options (male vs. female) for audio playback, I really miss the old voice. The new one feels a bit too dry. I had an easier time feeling the Spirit and envisioning what was happening with the old one.

I agree 100%, and so do most of my family members and friends. The new recording is really dry and monotone. I listen to the scriptures a lot less because it's so hard to listen to now.

I agree, the old voice had power and emotions that helped me stay focused and involved and now I fight the drifting thoughts aso it's harder to pay attention. Guess I have to go back to reading more then listening which is sad because I love to listen in the car...

I would love the option to choose the old reader. This new voice is slower, more slurred (e.g. saith comes across as 'seth'), softer, and harder to pay attention to. All in all I haven't liked anything about the new update.

The 2017 readers of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament have sucked the life out of the scriptures. Perhaps they were coached to do this? If so, why?
Take Alma 26, where's the joy and rejoicing... It's gone.

garyesmay wrote:The 2017 readers of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament have sucked the life out of the scriptures. Perhaps they were coached to do this?

Perhaps they were. There is no one way to read a verse of scripture. And I can and do read them in many different ways, depending on the point I wish to make when I am speaking, teaching, leading a workshop, visiting with the family, or talking to my neighbor.

If I was the 2017 reader, which version would you want to hear?

I loved listening to the Bruce Lindsay narration of the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately the new male voices are dry and disengaging to my ear and I find myself longing for the older option. How can I download a copy of the old narrators to have in my library?

The older Book of Mormon recordings can be found at the LDS Media Library.

Agree completely.

I love the new version. When the previous reader was more dramatic I felt it was actually harder for me to feel the spirit. Though I can see how others might feel differently. Maybe, down the road, there will be a reader option.

I don't know what all the settings are yet, but the default reader voice for my phone is now a female voice that's obviously a computer. No person says, "Between 500 minus 480 BC." Please change it back to a human reader!

My whole family really does not like the new voice because the strange pronunciations draw way too much attention to the voice as to be very distracting and even annoying because it's not a normal voice. The desire to listen to the Book of Mormon has lessened and we would rather read it ourselves so we can be Undistracted with the disconnect from the real feelings and emotion of the stories and accounts. There is this disconnect like when a singer performs too strongly in a sacrament meeting and the thing becomes a performance instead. There are many instances when we would listen to scriptures such as when exercising or even resting. But now... I would very much like to use the LDS app to read or listen to scriptures but this has changed things with this app!

shmcphie wrote:I don't know what all the settings are yet, but the default reader voice for my phone is now a female voice that's obviously a computer. No person says, "Between 500 minus 480 BC." Please change it back to a human reader!

I'm assuming you're using Gospel Library 4.1 for Android. Do you have "Limit Mobile Network Use" turned on in settings, and are you on cellular data (instead of Wi-Fi) or offline? If so, the audio will fall back on Text-to-Speech instead of streaming the recordings. If you frequently listen while offline or while on a cellular network, I'd recommending downloading the audio for the scriptures in advance so it doesn't need to stream or fall back to Text-to-Speech. Or you can turn off the "Limit Mobile Network Use" setting.

lajackson wrote:

garyesmay wrote:The 2017 readers of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament have sucked the life out of the scriptures. Perhaps they were coached to do this?

Perhaps they were. There is no one way to read a verse of scripture. And I can and do read them in many different ways, depending on the point I wish to make when I am speaking, teaching, leading a workshop, visiting with the family, or talking to my neighbor.

If I was the 2017 reader, which version would you want to hear?

I would want to hear the version spoken by the original prophet. The Spirit teaches this, what this is. There are not two or three or more different ways to emphasize a particular scripture or passage, or even a word. i do know what you are talking about however but it's more like putting your opinions on what certain words mean. If our view is compatible with the original intent of the scripture or revelation, then the Spirit will manifest this. So much of the Book of Mormon does not need our personal emphasis on words but will be just fine if we read it with the same Spirit in which it was written, and its best if the voice is not distracting or call attention to itself. Less is more, but it needs FEELING and the Spirit, the Spirit teaches. I do not believe that the Book of Mormon was meant to be read in stilted separate phrases and words and then put together with an edit. It needs to flow.

grantjohnson wrote:I would want to hear the version spoken by the original prophet. The Spirit teaches this, what this is.

Then what we need is a reader who is totally in tune with the Spirit. Or even better, an expansion of the GL General Conference section to include the Zarahemla Conference of 124 B.C. where king Benjamin spoke, the 530-ish B.C. conference where Jacob spoke, and many others. But I do not think any of the technology specialists got a successful recording of those. [grin]

In all seriousness, I totally agree with you. And that is why I rarely listen to the scriptures audio. I think the current readers attempt to be simple and non-influential. I think the earlier readers over did it. For my nickel, the correct reading is somewhere in between. A possible but unlikely solution is to have many different readings and a choice dropdown menu.

On a personal level, I have no objection to either of the current readers. And while I prefer the female voice, I would never pull it up while driving down the Interstate, because it is difficult to stay between the dotted lines when you are being put to sleep.

On the other hand, we do have actual recordings of the current prophets, seers, and revelators. I don't listen to them while I am driving, either. To each his own.

I absolutely LOVE the new voices. The reading is so neutral that I tend to focus on the substance- the content, more than the person reading it. Whoever read it before, for me, put too much into it. Let the scriptures speak for themselves. Since the new voices, I find myself looking forward to listening, even more. I'm wondering why I'm the only one with this experience. I'm 63. Could that be it?

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

Still no leads on the older versions? No, they are not on the website anymore. : (

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.

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!

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.

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.

italiasaint wrote: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.

Which content are you listening to? Usually if you get text-to-speech, it means audio recordings don't exist for that content, or they haven't been published yet for that content (if it's new content), or you're not connected to the internet and you don't have the audio files for that content downloaded.

I noticed your username is "italiasaint" – if you're trying to listen to the scriptures in Italian, there are no recordings of the scriptures in Italian currently, so text-to-speech is your only option. But you can customize the text-to-speech in Android settings (quality varies based on the device manufacturer and OS version).

I agree with all of you. But we do have other options. I listen to my scripture using Audible.com. I downloaded the Bible that we read. I'm able to put my ear buds in and listen. The make voice is very comfortable to listen to. Like one of you said there is many options to read and listen to scriptures.

I also love the Bruce Lindsey voice version. The best voice of all the voices in my opinion.

Unfortunately, the link https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/med ... s?lang=eng is returning a page not found.

It is also confusing to me that when I select a Male voice the narration still is a Female voice. I'm guessing this is a software bug? otherwise, I think the option should be removed.

Unfortunately, my "italiasaint" name is not because I speak Italian, it is a nod to my heritage and not the language I speak, although it would be great for those who's first language is Italian, as we have an Italian member in our ward, or those learning the language. Thank you for noticing my name and considering a voice translation to Italian.

ThorntonJN wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 8:28 am It is also confusing to me that when I select a Male voice the narration still is a Female voice.

Unless something else is going on, the voice you select reads the main verses of a chapter, but the opposite voice reads the headings.

Please provide more options than the AI or text to speech sounding robots of 2024. What happened to the 2023 voices? The old voices were delightful for helping the kids who could not yet read, explore the scriptures on their own.

wyosharon wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:14 am Please provide more options ...

The Tech Forum is primarily user-to-user discussion and self help. There is little chance your post will be seen by anyone who can consider your recommendation. Use the in-app Send Feedback option in the Help menu to get you recommendation to the app decision makers.

wyosharon wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:14 am Please provide more options than the AI or text to speech sounding robots of 2024. What happened to the 2023 voices?

I'm not an expert on the mobile app, but I'm pretty sure the robot voice is provided by your phone. To get the recorded text, you either have to download the audio files or have a working internet connection to be able to play them.

If "Limit Cellular Data Use" is turned on in the App's settings, you probably need a working WiFi connection.

went there and nothing about the BofM audio

auger49 wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:21 am went there and nothing about the BofM audio

There's nothing specific to BofM audio, but settings will have an impact on if and when recorded audio files are used. "Limit Cellular Data Use" is one of them along with how you're connected to the internet.

All the narrators, both old and new, did a great job. I listen to them every day (usually the new, female recordings). I do have the old recordings and sometimes listen to those, too.

The text-to-speech is not the narration. If what you hear sounds monotone, flat, robotic, etc. you're probably listening to text-to-speech. Change your settings (and ensure text-to-speech isn't enabled). If it doesn't work, go and download the MP3s on your desktop computer or something.

I prefer the female narration in both the old and new recordings (I basically always prefer female narration in audiobooks, as well as female vocals in music). But, the male narrators did do a great job, too.

munaish wrote: Sun Jul 13, 2025 6:41 pm The text-to-speech is not the narration. If what you hear sounds monotone, flat, robotic, etc. you're probably listening to text-to-speech. Change your settings (and ensure text-to-speech isn't enabled). If it doesn't work, go and download the MP3s on your desktop computer or something.

For anyone interested in a comparison between the two (older Bruce Lindsay recording vs. current Gospel Library app), here's a screen capture with audio of Alma 60, back and forth, a few verses at a time:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x6kebkou ... q7yb7&dl=0

I personally think the older recording is far more listenable, believable, and consistent - the emotions match the content and context of the chapter. Unfortunately, this is what we've lost with the current voices.

I would describe the current app voice as flat and robotic, even though it's not monotone. Based on what I'm hearing, my suspicion is that they used real peoples' voices to train a computer voice model that they can then cause to read anything from text. It's pretty good from a technological standpoint (prior to the latest AI models, of course), but it's not in the same league as the older Bruce Lindsay recordings.

If anyone's interested, I figured out how to get the older recordings so that I don't have to use the Gospel Library app voices any more. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about that.

Here's one more comparison using Jacob 7.
This chapter uses different voices than Alma 60 (in both in the Gospel Library app and the Bruce Lindsay version):

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e68a7o9l ... ek78y&dl=0

I suggest listening to both of these comparison videos in their entirety since the tone of the chapter changes multiple times throughout, and especially toward the end of each.

I am not trying to translate to Italian. This enquiry has been void for quite some time now, but thank you for trying to help, all's good now.

italiasaint wrote: Mon Jul 14, 2025 10:30 am I am not trying to translate to Italian. This enquiry has been void for quite some time now, but thank you for trying to help, all's good now.

My response wasn’t directed toward you or the Italian language topic. It’s related to the original purpose of this thread, which was about the church’s app development team eliminating the great English recordings many of us loved.

I’ve since found how to get them so that I don’t have to use the robotic sounding voices in the Gospel Library app. Since some people don’t know the difference, I provided a comparison in my last 2 posts. The difference is pretty stark.