How to make your voiceover for the robot vacuum cleaner Xiaomi: from recording to installation

Xiaomi's robot vacuum cleaners are not just housekeepers, they're full-fledged participants in your daily life. Standard voice alerts like "Cleaning Start" or "Charging Complete" are quick to annoy, and sometimes annoying. What if you replace them with your own voice -- whether it's your own, your favorite character's voice, or even jokes -- not only personalizes the device, but it makes interaction with it much more fun.

In this article, we will analyze all the stages of creating custom voiceovers for robot vacuum cleaners Xiaomi, Dreame, Viomi and others based on the Mi platform. Home/Mija. You'll learn how to record audio correctly, process it for firmware compatibility, and finally upload it to your device without the risk of bricking your gadget. Spoiler: you don't have to be a sound engineer or a programmer, you just have to follow the instructions and have a smartphone or computer on hand.

Important: The methods in this article work for most 2018–2026 models (including Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Pro, Dreame, and others) D9, Viomi V3), But they may be different for Mi Home and Mija devices. Before you start, check the firmware version of your vacuum cleaner - more about this in the section "Compatibility».

1.What Xiaomi models support voice replacement?

Not all Xiaomi robot vacuum cleaners allow you to change voice packets, and here are the key compatibility criteria:

• 🔹 Platform: Mi Home (old firmware) or Mija (new firmware for the European market) based devices, vacuum cleaners with Home Assistant firmware or custom firmware (for example, Valetudo) also support replacement, but require manual intervention.
• 🔹 Release year: 2018 and newer models (except for Mi Robot Vacuum) 1S, where replacement is possible only through hacking).
• 🔹 Voiceover type: Standard TTS-Voices are harder to replace than recorded audio files. Most vacuum cleaners use.mp3 or.wav files.

Critical detail: vacuum cleaners with firmware for the Chinese market (CN) If your device is purchased in China, check the region in the Mi Home settings - you may need to change the server to Europe (Mija) or Russia.

2.Preparation: What will be needed to record voiceover

Before you get to the microphone, make sure you have everything you need.

• 🎤 Microphone: Smartphone is fine, but it is better to use an external microphone like Boya BY-M1 Fifine K669B purely).
• 💻 PC or smartphone: For recording and processing audio. On Android, you can use Audacity or Lexis Audio Editor, on iOS - GarageBand.
• 🔊 Programs: Audacity (free, for PC)/Mac) Adobe Audition (paid, for professional processing) Voice Changer (for smartphones, if you need to change the timbre)
• 📁 Phrase templates: Download your model’s standard alert list (see section 4).

Technical requirements for audio files:

• 🔸 Format:.mp3 (recommended) or.wav (without compression).
• 🔸 Bitrate: 64-128 kbit / s (above - the excess weight of files).
• 🔸 Duration: no more than 5 seconds per phrase (otherwise the vacuum cleaner will cut the sound).
• 🔸 Volume: normalize to -3 dB (so that there is no distortion).

⚠️ Warning: If you record a voice on a smartphone, turn off noise cancellation in the microphone settings - it can distort sound. On iPhone, this is done in Settings → Camera. → Video recording → Microphone format (select "No Noise Reduction Stereo»).

💡

Use a pop filter (you can make from capron tights) when recording - this will remove unpleasant "puffing" sounds from the air.

3. Voice recording: step-by-step instruction

Now, to the most creative phase, recording, here's how to do it right:

1. Prepare text. Download a phrase template for your model (see section 4) or make your own list. Example of standard alerts: "Cleaning started" "Charging completed" "Error: stuck" "Battery level low"

Set up the equipment.

Write it down with a margin.

Save files to the template.

start_cleaning.mp3

low_battery.mp3

Example of folder structure:

custom_voice/


├── start_cleaning.mp3




├── charging_complete.mp3




├── error_stuck.mp3




└── low_battery.mp3

If you want to add humor or creativity, here are some ideas for phrases:

• 😂 Instead of “Cleaning Started”: “I’m coming at you, dust!” (voice of Terminator).
• 🎶 Instead of “charging is complete”: “The energy drink, go!»
• 🤖 “Houston, we have a problem” (voice of astronaut).

⚠️ Warning: Avoid phrases that are too long (more than 3 seconds) – the vacuum cleaner may crop the sound or not reproduce it at all. Also, do not use music or copyrighted sounds (such as voices from movies) – this violates Xiaomi’s rules.

I have prepared a list of phrases for my model.|

I checked the microphone and turned off the noise cancellation.|

Downloaded the filename template|

I recorded the test take and checked the quality.|

Save files in format.mp3 128 kbit/s bitrate-->

4. Phrase templates for different Xiaomi models

Each robot vacuum cleaner model has its own set of audible alerts, and below are full lists of phrases for popular devices, download the template archive, or create files manually using these names.

For Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Pro (Mija firmware):

• start_cleaning.mp3 — clean-up
• pause_cleaning.mp3 — pause
• resume_cleaning.mp3 — renewal
• charging_start.mp3 — charging-off
• charging_complete.mp3 — charging complete
• low_battery.mp3 — low-grade
• error_stuck.mp3 — stuck
• error_drop.mp3 — fall-off

For Dreame. D9/D10:

• start_work.mp3
• stop_work.mp3
• battery_low.mp3
• charging.mp3
• error_01.mp3 — sensor error
• error_02.mp3 — stuck

For Viomi. V3:

• start.mp3
• end.mp3
• charge.mp3
• error.mp3 (universal error)

📌 Where do you get the original audio files? They can be extracted from the device's firmware using tools like Mi Home Hack or Valetudo. RE. However, for most users, it is enough to create their files using the template above.

5.Audio processing: how to make sound perfect

Raw recording is rarely used in a vacuum cleaner, and to make your voice sound clear and natural, you need to process the audio. Here's the minimum set of activities in Audacity.

1. Cut the silence. Delete the pauses at the beginning and end of the file (select the unnecessary fragment and press Delete).
2. Normalize volume. Select Effects. → Normalization and setting the level -3 dB.
3. Noise removal. Select a area with "clean" noise (no voice), then apply the effects → Noise suppression.
4. Equator. Raise the frequencies of 2-4 kHz (this will make the voice more legible). Use the Telephone preset for the test.
5. Export. Save the file in format MP3 128 kbps bitrate (select Constant Bitrate in export settings).

🎛️ Additional Advice for Advanced:

Example of equalizer settings for male voice:

⚠️ Warning: Do not save files in.wav format without compression - they take up too much space in the vacuum cleaner memory: MP3, 128 kbps, mono.

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The sound quality in a vacuum cleaner is limited to a small speaker. Don't aim for studio sound, as long as the voice is clear and without distortion.

6. Installation of voiceover in robot vacuum cleaner

When audio files are ready, they need to be uploaded to the device, depending on the model and the firmware. Let's look at three basic methods:

Method 1: Through the Mi app Home/Mija (formal)

It is suitable for most models running on the firmware Mija (Europe) or Mi Home (global).

1. Open the Mi Home or Mija app.
2. Go to your vacuum cleaner settings: Device profile → Settings → Voice alerts.
3. Select Download custom sounds (or similar item).
4. Download the archive with yours.mp3 files (maximum size – 5 MB).
5. Reboot the vacuum cleaner (turn off and turn on the power).

Method 2: ADB (for Advanced)

If the official method does not work (for example, on Dreame) D9), can be used ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

1. Turn on the developer mode on the vacuum cleaner: 5 times click on the firmware version in the settings.
2. Connect the vacuum cleaner to Wi-Fi and find it IP-router.
3. Open the terminal on PC and enter: adb connect [IP_vacuumer]:5555 adb shell mount -o remount,rw /system cp /sdcard/custom_voice/* /system/media/voice/
4. Reset the device.

Method 3: Through Valetudo (for custom firmware)

If your vacuum cleaner is running on Valetudo (alternative firmware), upload files via the web interface:

1. Open it in your browser. http://[IP_vacuumer].
2. Go to the Settings → Voice Packs.
3. Download the archive with voiceover and apply the changes.

🔧 If nothing works:

• 🔹 Check the file access permissions (should be 644 or 755).
• 🔹 Make sure that the file names are the same as the original ones (see Section 4).
• 🔹 Try rolling back the firmware to an older version (sometimes new updates block custom sounds).

⚠️ Note: Some models (e.g. Mi Robot Vacuum) 1S) voice-over ADB Make a backup of the configuration via Mi Home before starting!

💡

If the vacuum cleaner doesn't play your files, check them on another device (like your phone), possibly a format or bitrate problem.

7. Problem Solving: Why Voiceover Doesn't Work

Even if you do everything according to the instructions, you can have failures. Here are the common problems and solutions.

🛠️ Additional advice:

• 🔊 If the sound is wheezing, try converting files to mono instead of stereo.
• 🔄 If after loading the vacuum cleaner freezes, reset it to factory settings (reset button on the case).
• 📱 If the Mi Home app does not allow you to download sounds, try changing the region to Europe or Russia in your account settings.

What do you do if nothing helps?

1. Check out the official Xiaomi forum – there may be specific instructions for your model.
2. Contact technical support (but don’t mention custom firmware – this may void the warranty).
3. Try alternative methods, such as playing sounds through a Home Assistant or IFTTT.

FAQ: Frequent questions about voiceover of a robot vacuum cleaner