[DECtalk] accent demos in the dectalk archive

[Ameer Armaly]

Makes sense. I only heard vague references to the messenger so never knew
much about it. Thanks for the information.

On Tue, Jun 24, 2025 at 7:58 AM Aksel Christoffersen <aksel at dectalk.nu>
wrote:

> 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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