[DECtalk] speech synths again (was: DECTalk 5.0?)
Alex Hall
mehgcap at gwi.net
Wed Aug 25 14:42:36 EDT 2010
Personally, I would love to see both Eloquence and DT as sapi voices.
It is a true shame that these are not available anywhere as they would
let users of any screen reader or self-voicing app use their favorite
voice.
On 8/25/10, Raymond Grote <musicalman1 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Sure, use it as you wish. As I say though, what i say isn't facts, it's
> mostly my opinion, although I try to be accurate.
> Microsoft also can speed up pretty well but the quality of the voices just
> annoys me to the point of staying away from them. Eloquence is what I used
> back when I was in kindergarten just learning how to use a computer. Back
> then I didn't care how it sounded, I could understand it. I got used to it.
> I just liked it because it sped up very nicely, had pretty good
> pronunciation, and was nice an clear at least to my ears. The intonation
> doesn't bother me now, but I know it bothers many people.
> As for Dectalk, I just can't get used to that synth. For some reason, I just
> never really liked it, but many people do. I guess I'm just an opposite type
> of guy...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Corine Bickley
> To: DECtalk Discussions
> Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 7:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] DECTalk 5.0?
>
>
> Thank you, Raymond - very useful feedback! I'm a member of an Acoustical
> Society standards committee on intelligibility of text-to-speech systems,
> and we are particularly interested in the opinions of users at high speeds.
> Is it ok if I pass along your comments to other members of the committee?
> They are all experts in TTS with many years experience (including Sue Hertz
> who developed Eloquence :) - she'd love to read you supportive comments
> about her system).
> corine
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 12:43 PM, Raymond Grote <musicalman1 at comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I'm not sure if I can answer your question, but I personally don't like
> Dectalk at high speeds. I use Eloquence most of the time, at speeds of
> between 65 and 85 percent, 65 for reading text and 85 for just navigating
> around and listening to short things like short IM messages on skype.
> As for how fast this is, I don't really know. But I do know that dectalk
> just doesn't sound good at those speeds, it starts to sounds all garbled and
> all the words and syllables start to run together, making it difficult for
> me to understand. Eloquence doesn't have this problem.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Corine Bickley
> To: DECtalk Discussions
> Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 7:18 AM
> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] DECTalk 5.0?
>
>
> Hi Alex,
> I am particularly interested in knowing who uses DECtalk for screen
> readers because I'm part of an Acoustical Society's standards committee on
> intelligibility of text-to-speech systems. We have a particular interest in
> knowing what users of high-speed synthesized speech think, and can
> understand, as most of us on the committee only have experience listening to
> synthesized speech at conversational speeds. What's your preferred speed?
> Might you be willing to advise our committee?
> thanks for considering - corine
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 7:21 PM, Alex H. <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Corine,
>
> I use DECTalk mostly on the Windows platform, and when I convert to
> Linux I'll probably use it as well. I'm a screen reader user, and
> use
> DECTalk Access32 with JAWS and Window-Eyes. For NVDA (my primary
> screenreader), there's no supported DECTalk, which is why a SAPI
> version would be really great.
>
> My cell phone is a Windows Mobile phone, and I currently use Mobile
> Speak for Windows Mobile and Fonix Dectalk 4.6.3 that's bundled
> with
> Mobile Speak. So in short, I use DECTalk quite a bit.
>
> I also use DECTalk demos to write songs and gingles, plays, etc.
> It's
> really quite amusing having a synthesizer that can do so much.
>
> When I can swing it, I'll look into buying a DECTalk USb and then
> I'll
> have my favorite speech in a hardware synthesizer. I know, I'm a
> bit
> crazy about DECTalk! :)
>
> Alex
>
>
> On 8/23/10, Corine Bickley <corine.bickley at gallaudet.edu> wrote:
> > Hi Alex -
> > I worked with Snoopi at Fonix (and before that at Force), and I'm
> interested
> > to know how you use DECtalk - for what purposes and on what
> platforms?
> > corine bickley
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Alex H.
> <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> Best of luck to you with the CD's and DECTalk. I hope DECTalk
> doesn't
> >> go by the wayside, it's a great synth and I use it almost
> everyday, on
> >> my phone and my laptops. I'm planning on getting the DECTalk USB
> but
> >> have yet to find a used one.
> >>
> >> Alex
> >>
> >> On 8/23/10, Dectalk at aol.com <Dectalk at aol.com> wrote:
> >> > I don't work with Fonix any more so I can't really say. My
> personal
> >> > opinion is just ask. I know a sapi5 is possible, I just don't
> know if
> >> they
> >> > ever
> >> > did one.
> >> >
> >> > BUT, let me tell you what my plans are. I'm finally on
> facebook where
> >> > more people are getting to know me and my music. At the end
> of
> >> September
> >> > I'm
> >> > releasing my very first holiday CD. I'm hoping it does well.
> I have 2
> >> > Churches that are letting me sell it, a CEO might buy some for
> his
> >> company,
> >> > and I'm hoping for a big sale. You can't count on anything,
> but I'm
> >> > hoping.
> >> > Blake Roberts and I are giving this our best shot.
> >> >
> >> > One of the things I want to get is the Dectalk Kit, and I
> believe it
> >> sells
> >> > for $1000.00. That kit will let me create a Dectalk sapi 5
> version. I
> >> > think I can get the 4.0 kit version but I'm not sure. I want
> the
> >> > oldest
> >> > version I can get because the new versions suck!
> >> >
> >> > Dectalk is going away because of lake of interest. But
> because of my
> >> > music, there will always be disabled people who want to get
> into
> >> singing.
> >> > Plus
> >> > if device companies ever want Dectalk, I'll be able to pay
> the
> >> royalties
> >> > through this Dectalk kit and sell the sapi 5 that I create
> with the
> >> > kit.
> >> >
> >> > If my September release doesn't generate enough orders, I'm
> hoping it
> >> will
> >> > generate a new generation of interest because I'm planning on
> another
> >> > CD
> >> > release next March.
> >> >
> >> > My dilemma is, I need a new van because my van is on it's last
> legs.
> >> > So
> >> > sadly the van needs to have priority. But I'm hoping to book
> a
> >> > concert,
> >> > and
> >> > if I can do that, I should be fine. I have 750 friends on
> facebook and
> >> > growing, so I'm hoping for some interest.
> >> >
> >> > So Dectalk is not gone yet.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > SNOOPI BOTTEN
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > In a message dated 8/23/2010 1:27:10 A.M. Eastern Daylight
> Time,
> >> > linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com writes:
> >> >
> >> > Hi Snoopi,
> >> >
> >> > Thanks for the info on Dectalk 5.0. I guess I really don't need
> it, I
> >> > got four other demos plus FonixTalk. Do you think I'd have any
> luck
> >> > contacting Fonix and requesting the demos?
> >> >
> >> > @johnnybrl, I believe that FonixTalk works with the SAPI5
> engine but
> >> > it needs to be purchased. It is mentioned in the SDK and
> FonixTalk
> >> > pages on their site though. I wish DecTalk had a SAPI version,
> and
> >> > direct access to the speech parameters.
> >> >
> >> > Alex
> >> >
> >> > On 8/20/10, Ryan Chou <rc4896153 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> wait what is phonix talk and could someone please send me a
> demo?
> >> >>
> >> >> On 8/20/10, Dectalk at aol.com <Dectalk at aol.com> wrote:
> >> >>> As far as I know, Dectalk 5.0 was only a beta version. I
> have it
> >> > because
> >> >>> I worked for Fonix, but I can't give it out. My version
> SUCKS!
> >> It's
> >> >>> just
> >> >>> slightly hard to understand. If they fixed it, it needed
> it! But I
> >> >>> would
> >> >>> never ever buy it or use it because they changed a phonetic
> code and
> >> > did
> >> >>> a
> >> >>> few other changes.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> SNOOPI BOTTEN
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> In a message dated 8/20/2010 4:07:50 A.M. Eastern Daylight
> Time,
> >> >>> johnnybrl at gmail.com writes:
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Hi Alex, Yes I think I've seen that fonix has made a
> Dectalk 5.0 a
> >> few
> >> >>> years
> >> >>> ago, if my memory is correct. However, I couldn't find
> where you can
> >> >>> download a demo version of it anywhere.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> But Yeah hopefully somebody managed to get a demo copy
> somewhere.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> BTW, I sort of like the fonix talk6 voices, almost like the
> fonix
> >> > dectalk
> >> >>> 4.6.4. And you can also create wave files in the program
> too.
> >> >>> And I was also wondering, is there a version of fonix talk
> that you
> >> > could
> >> >>> use in windows like a Sapi5 engine? Was maybe thinking
> about getting
> >> > it
> >> >>> to
> >> >>> use it with NVDA or Jaws.
> >> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >> >>> From: "Alex H." <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
> >> >>> To: <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
> >> >>> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 9:29 PM
> >> >>> Subject: [DECtalk] DECTalk 5.0?
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>>> Hey all,
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Been doing some research, aparently Fonix made a Dectalk
> 5.0 before
> >> >>>> they started their FonixTalk synthesizer.
> >> >>>> Just wondering if anybody's got the demo of DECTalk 5.0?
> Can't find
> >> it
> >> >>>> anywhere :(
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Thx.
> >> >>>> Alex
> >> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >> >>>> DECtalk mailing list
> >> >>>> DECtalk at bluegrasspals.com
> >> >>>> http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
> >> >>>
> >> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >> >>>
> >> >>>
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> >> >
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> >
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--
Have a great day,
Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
mehgcap at gmail.com; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
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