v5 · the stack-up

ElevenLabs joins the rack

Rounds one to four were the free floor: what the local engine can do. This is the paid ceiling — three ElevenLabs narrators chosen for depth and authority, reading the same 410-character paragraph as every previous round, so the only variable is still the voice.

“Give me also 3 versions with 11 left. I want see how they stack up. 30 seconds each version.”

01 · ListenPaid first, then the local best

ElevenLabs · eleven_multilingual_v2

Brian · deep and resonant

ElevenLabs' catalogue answer to “deeper bass”: a middle-aged American voice sold on exactly that. The closest brief match of the three.

25.8spremade · US

Adam · dominant, firm

The authority end of the ask. Less warmth, more push — reads like someone used to being the last word in the room.

29.9spremade · US

George · warm British storyteller

The audiobook-narrator archetype, included as the third flavour: less bass than Brian, more craft in the phrasing.

27.0spremade · UK

The local best, from v4

Deep clone · two semitones down

Your own voice, deepened at the reference. Free, local, word-perfect on the check.

29.6slocal · $0

Warm authority

The flattest, most deliberate local take. Also free, also word-perfect.

31.7slocal · $0

Reference

Round one's straight clone

Your voice, untransformed — where the search started.

31.9sv2

02 · EvidenceAll three transcribe word-perfect

Take	Check	Cost of this clip	Whole site in this voice
Brian	word perfect	~410 credits	~202k credits
Adam	word perfect	~410 credits	~202k credits
George	word perfect	~410 credits	~202k credits

What a win here would mean

If an ElevenLabs voice wins, the whole site costs about 202,000 credits to narrate — more than a full month of the Creator plan's 136,319, and the account currently holds 11,009 until 25 August. The story pipeline shares that budget. So a paid winner means either waiting for resets across two months, buying capacity, or narrating the site on a pay-as-you-go engine in a comparable voice.

If a local take holds its own, the whole site is free and the voice can never be deprecated. That asymmetry is what this rack is really measuring.

03 · NextPick, or mix

Name the winner and the full article renders in it. A mixed verdict is also useful — “Brian's depth, but the local price” sends the next local round chasing Brian's timbre with a deeper reference shift and a warmth EQ, which is exactly how the v4 rack was built from the v2 verdict.