[bookcourier] Re: BETTER VOICES?

  • From: Ted Shelly <tshelly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 12:42:53 -0400

Ben,

Yes, it has indeed been a topic for some time.  I'm quite used to
double-talk now and favor it because I can always understand what is being
said.  I liken it to haveing a friend who is foreign-born with a thick
accent.  At first you can't understand a word they say, but over time you
get used to his way of speaking and can understand him perfectly.  He hasn't
lost his accent - you've just trained your ear.

Not that there aren't some better voices around.  It might take a hardware
upgrade to get the BC to have new voices available.  I expect we'll see a
whole new BC in the next couple of years with lots of new features like
multiple voice synths, USB 2 support (for faster transfers) and maybe
compatibility with the new Library of Congress electronic talking book
format.

You can do the text-to-mp3 conversion, but you lose word-by-word navigation
and spelling features. 

Hope you enjoy your BC - I couldn't live without mine!

Ted

________________________________

From: bookcourier-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bookcourier-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bennie and Catherine
van Rensburg
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 9:05 AM
To: bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookcourier] BETTER VOICES?


Hallo There!
 
I've only been using Book Courier for a month and have found it to be a most
useful piece of electronics.  Previously, when I travelled, I couldn't read
any books, as a laptop was almost as much trouble to carry around as a
desktop!
 
I bought my Book Courier with open eyes, as it were, having listened to
Exact Pete on-line.  However, I still found it amazing that Springer isn't
using a better voice.  To my mind, there is so much better available now.  I
put this point to support, suggesting Eloquence or IBM Read.  They told me,
in a very courteous reply, that this issue had been discussed often before
on the list and that there were as many preferences as there were voices.
So I apologise if I'm introducing a hackneyed subject, but don't you guys
think there's something better out there than Double-Talk?
 
Regards.
 
Bennie
 
 
Ben and Catherine van Rensburg
c/o South African Embassy
Granatny Per 1, bldg 9
123001 MOSCOW
Tel: +7 495 2990326 (Home)  Note:  New area code for Moscow
Mobile (Ben) +7 8 915 397 6347
Mobile (Catherine) +7 8 915 300 40 43
South Africa +27 12 667 3545 (Parents/Claudia)
 


Other related posts: