Whisper Diarization Faces Installation and Accuracy Challenges as Community Engagement Remains High.
Whisper Diarization is a project that integrates OpenAI's Whisper ASR with speaker diarization capabilities, aiming to transcribe audio while identifying speakers. It combines technologies like MarbleNet for voice activity detection and TitaNet for speaker embedding.
The project has seen significant community engagement with 34 open issues, primarily focusing on installation problems due to dependency conflicts and challenges in speaker diarization accuracy. Notably, users report frequent IndexError
and ValueError
, indicating robustness issues in handling edge cases. The lack of support for certain languages also limits its applicability.
torch
and nemo_toolkit
.diarize_parallel.py
.diarize_parallel.py
.The recent activity shows Mahmoud Ashraf focusing on refining error handling and user experience. There is no recent collaborative work, suggesting a phase of independent development or stabilization.
Timespan | Opened | Closed | Comments | Labeled | Milestones |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 Days | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
30 Days | 7 | 1 | 44 | 7 | 1 |
90 Days | 13 | 11 | 73 | 13 | 1 |
1 Year | 91 | 69 | 357 | 91 | 1 |
All Time | 161 | 127 | - | - | - |
Like all software activity quantification, these numbers are imperfect but sometimes useful. Comments, Labels, and Milestones refer to those issues opened in the timespan in question.
Developer | Avatar | Branches | PRs | Commits | Files | Changes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mahmoud Ashraf | 1 | 0/0/0 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
PRs: created by that dev and opened/merged/closed-unmerged during the period
The GitHub repository for Whisper Diarization has seen a recent uptick in activity, with 34 open issues and several discussions surrounding deployment options, error handling, and feature requests. Notably, there are recurring themes of installation problems, particularly related to dependency conflicts and environment setup, which indicate that users may be struggling to configure the software correctly across different systems. Additionally, issues regarding speaker diarization accuracy and handling of specific audio formats highlight ongoing challenges in improving the tool's performance.
Several issues stand out due to their implications for user experience. For instance, the frequent reports of IndexError
and ValueError
suggest that the code may not robustly handle edge cases in audio processing, such as silence or unexpected input formats. Furthermore, the lack of support for certain languages in alignment models has been a point of contention, limiting the tool's applicability for diverse user bases.
Issue #215: Deployment options
Issue #212: FileNotFoundError
FileNotFoundError
regardless of input files or CLI options used.Issue #210: How to tune speaker diarization error?
Issue #188: Conflicting dependencies while installing requirements.txt
torch
and nemo_toolkit
.Issue #158: Is this repo usable for a production use case!!
Issue #191: multiple speaker compatibility
Installation Issues: A significant number of issues revolve around installation problems, particularly related to dependency conflicts (e.g., nemo_toolkit
, torch
, and whisperx
). This suggests a need for clearer documentation or a more streamlined installation process.
Diarization Accuracy: Many users express concerns about the accuracy of speaker diarization, especially in multi-speaker scenarios or when using specific languages. This indicates that further refinement is necessary in the underlying algorithms or models used for diarization.
Language Support: There is a recurring request for support of additional languages in both transcription and alignment models, highlighting a gap in functionality that could limit user adoption in non-English speaking regions.
User Engagement: The active discussions and issue reports reflect a community that is engaged but facing challenges with the tool's current capabilities. Addressing these concerns could enhance user satisfaction and broaden the tool's applicability.
In conclusion, while the Whisper Diarization project has garnered significant interest and usage, ongoing issues related to installation complexity, diarization accuracy, and language support need to be addressed to improve overall user experience and functionality.
The Whisper Diarization project, hosted on GitHub, has seen a total of 19 closed pull requests (PRs) since its inception. The most recent PRs focus on dependency management and enhancements to the transcription and diarization capabilities of the software. Notably, there are no open pull requests at this time.
PR #205: Pin Critical Dependencies
Closed 33 days ago by WiegerWolf. This PR aimed to pin specific versions of critical dependencies (transformers
and huggingface-hub
) to enhance stability. However, it was not merged due to concerns about potential future conflicts and the need for more dynamic dependency management.
PR #184: Change Alignment Library from whisperx
to ctc-forced-aligner
Closed 112 days ago by Mahmoud Ashraf. This significant change improved processing speed and utilized a universal multilingual model, although it introduced additional dependencies.
PR #167: Update requirements.txt for faster-whisper==1.0.0
Closed 195 days ago by transcriptionstream. This PR updated the requirements file but did not introduce substantial changes beyond version updates.
PR #155: Add Support for Any Language Diarization
Closed 124 days ago by Jay (jaycode). This feature allowed users to upload custom models for language transcription but was deemed unnecessary after the merging of PR #184.
PR #152: Added Feature to Use URL Other Than Local Files
Closed 235 days ago by moophlo. The PR proposed enabling the use of URLs for audio files but did not gain traction.
PR #149: Fix Missing Language Parameter
Closed 232 days ago by Andrey Gershun. This PR addressed a bug related to language parameters but did not lead to any significant changes.
PR #144: Add Initial Prompt Argument Support
Closed 111 days ago by Cognitohazard. This PR aimed to enhance functionality but was not merged due to overlapping features with other PRs.
PR #143: Update helpers.py
Closed 266 days ago by Ivan Dobrosovestnov. A minor update that did not significantly impact the project.
PR #138: Update requirements.txt
Closed 280 days ago by Bastian Schulz. Another routine update of dependencies.
PR #129: Update README.md
Closed 291 days ago by Joseph Martinez. A documentation update that improved clarity but did not affect functionality.
PR #125: Adding Long-form Audio Speaker Diarization
Merged 133 days ago by Mahmoud Ashraf. Introduced enhancements for handling longer audio files without memory issues, marking a notable improvement in capability.
PR #118: Resolve .txt Output File Edge Cases
Closed 312 days ago by Zach Graber. Addressed minor bugs related to output file handling.
PR #114: Fix Filename-extension Splitting
Closed 323 days ago by jamesqh. Resolved issues with file extension handling in the codebase.
PR #87: NEMO Toolkit Version Bump
Closed 358 days ago by Vladislav Tupikin. Updated dependencies related to the NEMO toolkit.
PR #57: Update helpers.py
Closed 404 days ago by Cat Yung. Minor updates that did not significantly alter functionality.
PR #40: Add Device Arg for CPU Support
Closed 482 days ago by Stefan Moises. Improved compatibility with CPU architectures, particularly for Apple Silicon M1 devices.
PR #28: Update diarize.py
Closed 488 days ago by Anselme. Minor updates that did not lead to major changes.
PR #20: Command Line Options + Requirements Fix
Closed 519 days ago by Federico Torrielli. Enhanced command line interface options and fixed some requirements issues.
PR #7: Convert Input Files
Closed 571 days ago by KevinGeLe. A basic utility addition that simplified file input handling.
The Whisper Diarization project has seen a variety of contributions focused primarily on enhancing functionality, improving performance, and managing dependencies effectively. The closed pull requests indicate an active community engagement with a mix of feature additions, bug fixes, and dependency updates that reflect ongoing maintenance efforts.
A notable theme among the recent PRs is the tension between stability and flexibility in dependency management, as highlighted in PR #205. The rejection of this PR underscores a critical point in software development—while pinning dependencies can provide immediate stability, it may also lead to long-term maintenance challenges as other packages evolve and introduce incompatibilities. The comments from Mahmoud Ashraf suggest a preference for more dynamic solutions that allow for greater adaptability in response to upstream changes in dependencies.
Another significant aspect is the introduction of performance improvements through PRs like #184 and #125, which enhance processing speed and extend capabilities for long-form audio processing. These contributions are crucial as they directly impact user experience and application efficiency, making them highly valuable within the context of speech recognition tasks where performance can be a bottleneck.
The community's feedback on various PRs indicates a willingness to engage in discussions about best practices and potential improvements, although there are instances where proposed features were deemed unnecessary or redundant (e.g., PR #155). This reflects an evolving understanding of project needs and priorities among contributors, which is essential for maintaining focus on impactful developments rather than diluting efforts across too many minor features or fixes.
Overall, while there is a healthy volume of contributions, the lack of open pull requests at this moment may suggest either a temporary lull in activity or an effective resolution of outstanding issues within the project scope. As the project continues to evolve, it will be important for maintainers to balance new feature development with robust dependency management strategies to ensure both stability and innovation moving forward.
diarize_parallel.py
, adding 1 line of code.diarize_parallel.py
, making it clearer when diarization fails, with an addition of 8 lines and a deletion of 1 line.diarize_parallel.py
. There are no open pull requests or branches indicating active collaboration or features being developed concurrently.The development team, led by Mahmoud Ashraf, is currently focused on refining the Whisper Diarization project with specific attention to error messaging and code clarity. The lack of recent collaboration suggests a potential need for increased team engagement or could reflect a strategic focus on individual contributions at this time.