[DECtalk] New synthesizer Gnuspeech

[Tony Baechler]

If I may say so, I think most of you are missing the point of the 
synthesizer.  Yes, I'm the first to admit that I don't prefer the speech 
quality and the inflection is a bit odd, but I noticed something which no 
one else has commented on yet.  If you listen to the demo I created:

http://classicradio.us/iso/gnuspeech_gpl.mp3

you'll notice that it doesn't mispronounce anything.  I did not listen to 
all of it and I noticed that it spelled every word in section 15, but I did 
listen to several minutes of it and not once did I hear a word 
mispronounced.  I think that's a particularly good piece of sample text 
because it uses unusual phrases and words not found in every day English. 
As much as I like DECtalk, IBM Viavoice and ESpeak, they all mispronounce 
things.  The high end commercial synths seem to pronounce things correctly 
most of the time, but they are big and really don't sound good at high 
speed.  Granted, there doesn't seem to be a way to change the speech rate, 
but considering the very small size (2 MB compiled if memory serves) and the 
excellent pronounciation, it definitely has its points.  I'm specifically 
thinking of small systems, like DTB players.  I tried the Rockbox speech and 
didn't much like it, but I think Gnuspeech could be ideal for low memory 
systems.  It took maybe a minute or two to convert the entire GPL to .wav. 
Considering it's still early days, I'm impressed.

On 10/23/2015 1:21 AM, Alex H. via Dectalk wrote:
>> I hope this can be made into an NVDA addon please, I really like its
>> quality for some reason.
>
> I don't at this stage, it sounds like Keynote Gold mixed with orpheus
> and a lot of missing teeth and drunken inflection.
>
> Carlos, any idea when NVSpeechPlayer can sound like a true English
> speaker? I hate seeing forks and small projects get "just good enough"
> and then left to rot even though they're open source and nobody wants
> to pick up the ball (or like me can't code worth a cat's whisker).
>
> If Gnuspeech were properly developed, it would be another option free
> option, and depending on i18/languages, could be really powerful for
> those looking for a TTS that speaks something other than English.
> Alas, dreams and fantasies probably.
>
> Have a good weekend!
> Alex
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-- 
--------------------
Tony Baechler, founder, Baechler Access Technology Services
Putting accessibility at the forefront of technology
mailto:bats at batsupport.com
Phone: 1-619-746-8310   Fax: 1-619-449-9898