● FAQ — TWELVE ANSWERS, NO FINE PRINT
Questions, answered.
The short version of everything: price, trial, privacy, voices, formats, and exports. Still stuck? Write to hello@elmren.com.
Do my files ever leave my Mac?
No. Your text, recordings, cloned voices, and generated audio stay on your Mac — nothing is uploaded to our servers. The network is used in exactly three cases: the one-time voice-pack download at first setup, Paddle license activation and verification, and sends that you trigger yourself (Email / Telegram / Discord).
How does voice cloning work?
Record one short, clean sample of your own voice (or a voice you're authorized to use) — 6 to 10 seconds — that starts at a sentence boundary, with a transcript that matches every word. The app checks the recording before it becomes a voice, and a saved voice is reusable across all your projects. Clean input matters more than long input.
What does the $40 include?
Everything: unlimited generation on your Mac after purchase, local voice cloning, Script Mode with auto-suggested speaker voices, and all exports — audio, M4B chapter audiobook, follow-along HTML, MP4 karaoke video, and send. One payment, no subscription.
What is Script Mode?
Bring a character-based script and the app suggests a voice for each speaker — you confirm every choice and can change any of them by hand.
Which Mac do I need?
Any Mac running macOS 13 or later. One license covers one Mac. A Windows version is in development — this purchase is for the Mac app.
Is there a trial?
Yes: 120 synthesis minutes within 7 days of first run — no account, no payment method. When the minutes run out or the 7 days pass, the studio becomes read-only (no new generation) and everything you already exported keeps playing forever. A $40 license key via Paddle checkout unlocks it permanently.
How many Macs does one license cover?
One license covers one Mac. Your key is stored in the macOS Keychain, never on our servers.
What if it's not for me?
Every purchase is covered by a 7-day money-back guarantee. Write to hello@elmren.com within 7 days and we refund you via Paddle — no forms, no questions about why.
Does it work offline?
Yes, day to day. First setup downloads the voice packs once (from ~700MB up to a few GB with all voice packs), then the studio runs without a connection. Exceptions: that download, Paddle license activation and verification (with a month-long offline grace period), and sending files, which needs the network by definition.
Which formats can I import?
TXT, MD, EPUB, PDF, DOCX, SRT, VTT, and HTML — or just paste text straight in. One honest note: scanned PDFs need a text layer; a photo of a page with no embedded text cannot be read yet.
How do I get audio onto a phone?
Send finished work straight from the app to Email, Telegram, or Discord. Each channel caps file size: Email 25MB · Telegram 50MB · Discord 8MB. For bigger projects, the M4B chapter audiobook plays in any podcast or audiobook app.
Where does the exported HTML play?
Anywhere: it is one self-contained file with audio and word-level timing baked in, verified in Safari and Chrome, and it makes zero network requests when opened.
$40 ONE-TIME · 7-DAY MONEY-BACK · TRIAL: 120 SYNTHESIS MINUTES WITHIN 7 DAYS OF FIRST RUN
QUESTIONS: HELLO@ELMREN.COM