[bookport] Re: Speech synthesizer
- From: "Walt Smith" <walt@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 19:12:54 -0400
Richard -
As Bruce says, there are some pretty restrictive hardware limitations with
the current model of the device that pretty much limit what can be
implemented. One big problem is that a lot of the newer software-based
synthesizers can (and do) require huge amounts of storage for their files
and execution space in memory in order to run efficiently. I don't recall
the speed of the processor in the BP, but for example, I could never use
Eloquence on a PC with a 333 MHz processor in it because it was just too
slow and other executing programs would just step all over the synthesizer,
causing all kinds of problems. The advent of really high-speed processors
has eliminated this particular problem, but I suspect pretty strongly that
the processor in the BP is very slow and couldn't cope with the demands of a
software synthesizer, even if there was space in program memory for one.
And as Bruce also indicated, discussions of synthesizers can very quickly
degenerate into religious wars. I've always said that speech synthesizers
are exactly like stereo headphones or speakers in that what sounds good to
_you_ is the best there is and no further discussion is warranted. <g>
----- Original Message -----
From: <reb503@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 6:53 PM
Subject: [bookport] Speech synthesizer
Hi everyone,
Six or eight months ago there was an extensive discussion about this. I
was not around for the conclusion. I remember there was a lot of
disagreement and the APH staff were looking into other possibilities. Can
anyone fill me in on this?
I have up until this time been mostly an Audible listener and have only
used the synthesizer for the manual, some articles and a couple of e-books.
The quality of the speech is adequate at best, but I am sure that some will
disagree with that. I find it echoey. gurglely and somewhat choppy. It is
quite understandable with some things but not with others. I have played
around with the settings but find that the defaults work best. Any
suggestions? Does anyone else feel this way? Is there any solution.
This is in contrast with Eloquence as used in JAWS which I find clear and
smooth.
Richard
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