From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mail-ew0-f177.google.com (mail-ew0-f177.google.com [209.85.219.177]) by speech.braille.uwo.ca (Postfix) with ESMTP id A797510B7E for ; Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:31:54 -0400 (EDT) Received: by ewy25 with SMTP id 25so5276862ewy.17 for ; Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:31:53 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=googlemail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:subject:from:reply-to:to :in-reply-to:references:content-type:organization:date:message-id :mime-version:x-mailer:content-transfer-encoding; bh=+OM4PMCqbYDTGJCTXmQHbkp14bkJ2xVvJlHUGiqZyeM=; b=jnmNhtNpePKhi4EJrnvoA4Vp/3mcjt+HMb7x7GzIhUzJ92xRykRVKI1bqVqKa0qXJu UkS04OkwI/aad6O2oKrMe99MJ9tImFq7+XPrLSWkfbUrmWyf8HDvLC/2ONz9uARYzaOP 6OnbAircGv1HTKjIwVUOR0cEzyAeZLBlaoLr0= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=googlemail.com; s=gamma; h=subject:from:reply-to:to:in-reply-to:references:content-type :organization:date:message-id:mime-version:x-mailer :content-transfer-encoding; b=lsnQ/aVabtgaabpkXQbAElY/EvLNN+ezkkXEGjsQG9kMvGOLZ2UaixZKS+jvQKjfuE hj+2mbii9aHCIeKXXseTNwc+2h9xUDOJn/9kNUEM81+SqA4CQwz/BxOgme1rtS0ugUcD aELlQTnXjT2Sh6On5a+YQF3f9UCmy/1CLQzSQ= Received: by 10.210.33.3 with SMTP id g3mr6874929ebg.85.1243888310694; Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:31:50 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ?192.168.1.66? (87-194-146-232.bethere.co.uk [87.194.146.232]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id 10sm438603eyz.21.2009.06.01.13.31.50 (version=SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:31:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: speakup using different synths with software speech? From: Georgina Joyce To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." In-Reply-To: <4A241922.7070204@baechler.net> References: <5D1286E147AA4F92B17EDF969017C6CF@tdsdev> <20090531185400.GB10058@localhost.localdomain> <20090531192320.GA25139@linux1> <20090531195859.GA5899@grml> <036101c9e24a$63683200$6400a8c0@quan> <4A241922.7070204@baechler.net> Content-Type: text/plain Organization: Ready 2 Go Linux Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:31:49 +0100 Message-Id: <1243888309.19200.14.camel@orchid.sented-plants.local> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 2.22.3.1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-BeenThere: speakup@braille.uwo.ca X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12 Precedence: list Reply-To: ready2golinux@googlemail.com, "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Id: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:31:55 -0000 Hi You didn't mention cepstral voices. On Mon, 2009-06-01 at 11:08 -0700, Tony Baechler wrote: > Hi, > > This is very well said. I've felt the same way for a long time which is > why I still use Windows for email and ssh to my Linux machines. I would > prefer to use Linux as my primary OS, but I have a few sticking points > as well. The biggest is the quality of ESpeak, exactly as you say. To > me, it reminds me of an Echo with a British accent. With Speakup, that > isn't a big problem because I have an external Doubletalk LT, a > Trippletalk and a DEC-talk Express. However, unless I'm mistaken, > (someone, please correct me here) there is no way to get Orca to use > hardware speech. I realize that there are better software synths out > there, but either they're just as bad (look at Festival), they're > non-free (Mbrola comes to mind), or they cost money, such as TTSynth. > Until there is a high quality speech synth for Linux that works with > Orca, I will not be completely switching. > > My other sticking point is that there is no equivalent to Sound Forge or > professional audio editing software that's accessible. There are Sox and > Ecasound, but they aren't GUI apps and are difficult to use for long, > comprehensive editing and post-production. I like Wedit, but it has the > same limitations. I know there are GUI audio processors but I read that > they're not accessible. While I'm at it, it would also be nice to find > something for manipulating MIDI files, but I can get by with Timidity > for now. > > James Homuth wrote: > > Somewhat related, what's the likelyhood of Espeak voices getting > > improvements to be more... I'm not sure what the word for it is, other than > > human-sounding? That's been one of my main sticking points for why I'm still > > with Windows on my primary machine; that, plus I've not until now had time > > to test the accessibility of my particular preferred distribution. I did > > hear a demonstration a while back of a version of Espeak, and while I could > > definitely get used to it, I think I'd like it a whole lot better if it > > didn't sound quite as robotic. I'm not saying it should equal eloquence by > > any means, but the demo I heard kind of reminded me of the old Echo synths > > used on the early Apple computers. Good, but could be better, IMHO. > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup -- Gena M0EBP http://ready2golinux.com