[DECtalk] accent demos in the dectalk archive

[Aksel Christoffersen]

After taking another look at the post I linked to, I think the answer to your question is, that the mp3 files come from an Accent Messenger IC, which appears to be a later unit released as a PCMCIA card. Take a look at this quote from the post.

“I have an Aicom Accent Messenger IC speech synthesizer that is a PCMCIA card. The unit uses a NEC μPD77P25GW DSP for the spech generation and I have a feeling that it's designed to be a Votrax SC-02/SSI-263 simulation. Aicom had other models that I found mentions being Votrax based units, but bing a PCMCIA card they couldn't use the normal DIP package the Votrax came in.”

 

This is probably why the voice sounds different in the mp3 files. I also kept thinking that they didn’t sound like a Votrax to me. I actually think the voice quality sounds a little bit like DECtalk, just with everything else being completely different.

 

I also found a YouTube video of a guy demonstrating an Accent PC card, which sounds like the Accent SA wav files.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4SAhL940aA

 

Kind regards:

Aksel

 

 

Fra: Dectalk [mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] På vegne af Ameer Armaly
Sendt: 24. juni 2025 13:12
Til: DECtalk
Emne: Re: [DECtalk] accent demos in the dectalk archive

 

Interesting. I'm aware that there were several versions of the Accent SA for example, with different physical designs and different dip switch behavior, but I have no idea if any of them had a different voice.

 

On Tue, Jun 24, 2025 at 12:22 AM Aksel Christoffersen <aksel at dectalk.nu> wrote:

Hi,

 

While I know nothing of the different versions of the Accent synthesizer, I agree that the mp3 files have a different voice than the wav files. The wav files were already in the archive when I took over, however I added the mp3 files to the archive about a month ago from a zip file, which is also in the archive in it’s entirety.

It was downloaded from a post where the poster, among other things, theorized that the speech was generated by a Votrax SC02 chip.

You can read it here.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/nec-pd77p25gw-rom-dumping/

Hope this helps.

 

Kind regards:

Aksel

 

Fra: Dectalk [mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] På vegne af Ameer Armaly
Sendt: 24. juni 2025 00:19
Til: dectalk at bluegrasspals.com
Emne: [DECtalk] accent demos in the dectalk archive

 

Hi All,

 

I noticed that in the dectalk archive, the demos of the accent synthesizer don't all sound the same. "demo.wav" sounds like the accent sound I'm familiar with from other synthesizers of that general family. "demo1.mp3" sounds different. Given that there were different versions and revisions of the accent family over the years, I'm curious if people can pin down what versions we are hearing in the different recordings? Thanks.

 

Ameer

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