TTSynth - Now available for Linux

[fos]

http://TTSynth.Com (http://ttsynth.com/)

The premier Text To Speech (TTS) software synthesizer for Linux!

Now available for immediate purchase and download!

Available Modules Include:


IBM's incomparable IBM TTS text to speech (formerly called ViaVoice)
Gnome-Speech patched for use with LSR and Orca
The TTSynth Speakup Bridge for screen reading with Speakup
ttsynth_say binary for the CLI or for use in scripts
Also supported by Emacspeak KTTS, and Speech Dispatcher Listen to TTSynth explain itself through this link! (http://ttsynth.com/sample.ogg)

The purchase price is listed as $40 for one language module and $20 for each additional module.



fos

[AndreL]

I don't know if it is my ears but I don't see much difference from the free "festival" TTS engine...

[fos]

I don't see much difference between festival and IBM Viavoice either. I guess it is the Cessna vs. Piper thing. Sometimes when you start out with something, you like to stick with it.

The Oralux Voxin version is only ~$5.00, a much cheaper way to try Viavoice.

I have also used JAWS for Windows and Zoomtext with voice for Windows. Both are VERY expensive. JAWS probably has the most versatile TTS web browsing but the learning curve is quite steep.

As emacspeak, festival, and the various Linux distros evolve, I'm sure the open source will be the better alternative.

I have been involved at the district level of our school system with assistive technology. I have also spent quite a bit of time with the regional folks for this part of Texas. If it isn't Windows, proprietary, and expensive, they don't seem to have much interest. :confused: I guess when you are spending tax dollars, you are insecure moving away from MS and Novell.

After getting called on the carpet and receiving a poor performance review, I stopped even mentioning open source software on the job.

Now that it is summer, I can't even communicate with the school system via email since the Novell based mail system at school will not work with anything other than Internet Explorer.

Oh well, they tell me I need to work on my interpersonal skills..

I was an old curmudgeon when they hired me.

fos

[AndreL]

I get your drift... Better we don't tell them that the planet is round! :eek::tongue:
.

[RedAlpha3]

I have been involved at the district level of our school system with assistive technology. I have also spent quite a bit of time with the regional folks for this part of Texas. If it isn't Windows, proprietary, and expensive, they don't seem to have much interest. :confused: I guess when you are spending tax dollars, you are insecure moving away from MS and Novell.

After getting called on the carpet and receiving a poor performance review, I stopped even mentioning open source software on the job.

Now that it is summer, I can't even communicate with the school system via email since the Novell based mail system at school will not work with anything other than Internet Explorer.

Oh well, they tell me I need to work on my interpersonal skills..

I was an old curmudgeon when they hired me.

fos

<rant mode on>When I started in UK education in the early seventies, I think people were valued because they were slightly different. The teaching profession was full of eccentrics. There was good and bad in this but generally it meant that children had a 'lively' education. When I left we had adopted a National Curriculum, an America-inspired system of SAT's and a tendency to believe that teachers who did not fit a certain mould (mold: US) were ineffective. To speak out against this was career suicide. There developed a layer of favoured (favored: US)workers who did less than the others but were listened to more. These were christened 'Management'. As time has progressed and 'accountability' and 'performance reviews' were introduced it became more difficult to be accepted as a person who was a little different to the 'norm'. It is difficult to perform well during assessment if the performance boxes to be ticked only deal with a centre-line approach.
The modern teacher seems to be cloned and the education system is based on uniformity. Innovation from individuals has disappeared...can you see where I'm going with this? My son is currently going through the later stages of state education. He seems to be tested more often than he is taught!
I think that those on this list in other professions will recognise a very similar scenario. A party-line which must be toed has emerged. This might well be a good approach to computer programming or software design but I'm not sure it applies to individuals. You can see this 'push towards uniformity' in everything, even politics. In Britain there are three major political parties. They are virtually indistinguishable!
Long may you be different, fos. Conformists are very tedious people! <rant mode off>

[bhobjj]

I don't see much difference between festival and IBM Viavoice either.

Festival works very well for text to speech, but Viavoice is used to dictation into a word processor and voice control commands.



People will pay for a little bit of refinement. NOAA (US Weather Bureau) spent a lot of money improving the voice of their weather radio broadcast. The old voice was similar to the default festival voice. The people working for the weather bureau nicknamed this voice "Arnold". (Mode-ly klow-Dee wid a chance uff show-urz). The new (nicknamed Craig) voice is much more pleasant sounding and sounds almost whimsical. I prefer the old voice.