20 replies to this topic

[will5404]

Just thougt Id pass along a suggestion to anyone using the text to speach functionality, I found the voices include by M$ to be quite bad personally. I installed the ATT Natural Voices and found them to work much better in sessions, as they more resemble another human being If you arent fond of the built in MS voices like me, http://www.nextup.com/nvsamples.html maybe worth a look samples are included of the voices there and to me they sound almost like a human, a real improvement over the defaults.

[mweisse]

Do they work in the application or are you importing them?

Good find!

[will5404]

In the application in the Tools -> Text To Speach Recorder you can select to use the ATT voices from the top right hand menu, works quite well

[electricsoul]

Those AT+T voices sound pretty good, but it's $37 just to get the program, and another $35 for each additional voice! Ugh.

I wonder if there are any other places on the web to get realistic voices for this purpose?

[gator_ash]

Those AT+T voices sound pretty good, but it's $37 just to get the program, and another $35 for each additional voice! Ugh.

I wonder if there are any other places on the web to get realistic voices for this purpose?

Hello everyone, first post here! I believe you can just buy the voices without having to buy the Text Aloud main program. The voices should work with the Neuro-Programmer Text to Speech option.

[Evelyn]

The Natural Voices site reads:

Your first Natural Voices Purchase must be the AT&T Natural Voices Engine with Mike and Crystal Voices. Other voices will not install unless you have this engine in place.

To me, it looks as if you need to buy the original package.

Ev

[gator_ash]

The Natural Voices site reads:

Your first Natural Voices Purchase must be the AT&T Natural Voices Engine with Mike and Crystal Voices. Other voices will not install unless you have this engine in place.

To me, it looks as if you need to buy the original package.

Ev

I bought the NeoSpeech voices (Paul and Kate) because I thought they sounded better. They cost the same though.

[mweisse]

Found some more voices: https://www.cepstral...el7s9i2lg70c22w

http://www.bytecool.com/voices.htm

[Evelyn]

I will have to listen to those voices next time i get a chance. Sadly, I'm a bit of a software junkie -

[Rich]

Has anyone compare att natural voices vs neospeech voices other than just their respective web demos?

I am seeking to buy better quality voices.

Over the range of normal usage words, what have you found produces the best sounds with your 16hz att natural voices Mike & Cyrstal vs neospeech Paul & Kate?

Is there an advantage to using TextAloud2.o or Neospeech VoiceTextâ„¢ software over just using the voices in NP2 text to speech program?

Also, has anyone experience using both of those nonNP2 software?

Did one produce better sound with same voices?

Thanks in Advance.

Richard

[SquireTrelawney]

Those AT+T voices sound pretty good, but it's $37 just to get the program, and another $35 for each additional voice!  Ugh.

I wonder if there are any other places on the web to get realistic voices for this purpose?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

On the other hand if you're the sort of person who avoids spending money unecessarily you can do what I did: Use the demo off AT&T's web page then save/import the resultant .wav file. Din't co$t me a thing.

[RmData]

Over the range of normal usage words, what have you found produces the best sounds with your 16hz att natural voices Mike & Cyrstal vs neospeech Paul & Kate?

Is there an advantage to using TextAloud2.o or Neospeech VoiceTextâ„¢ software over just using the voices in NP2 text to speech program?

Also, has anyone experience using both of those nonNP2 software?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can give you my experiences with these.

Voices - the neospeech voices give better inflections in sentences, the ATT voices are better at pronouncing most words. Overall, they are about the same to me.

TextAloud2 vs NP2 (I don't use Neospeech software) - With no customizations at all, it doesn't matter what program you use, they are going to sound the same. They are all using the same API on the same engine in the background (they don't have their own speech engines). For customization, I'd give the nod to TextAloud2 because you can tell it how to pronounce words or phrases, and it creates its own dictionary from that. From then on, it knows how to pronounce that particular word or phrase in the future.

However, if the only thing you're using TTS for is NP2, I wouldn't recommend buying extra software as NP2 does fine with individual recordings. You can customize how an individual recording is pronounced, so buying extra software isn't really necessary.

I'd recommend buying either the voices from ATT or neospeech, both are about the same quality. If you're reading paragraphs or books, you might like the Neospeech better, if you're reading just sentences at a time you might like ATT better.

Mark.

[Rich]

Mark & SquireTrelawney

Your comments help alot. I'm just using it for NP2.

I found a great deal where can get both neo's paul & kate's voices + software. Ultra Hal Text-to-Speech Reader with NeoSpeech VoiceText $24.95. Their online demo of voices isn't as good as others sites due to lower bits/s files. But who cares when I use at their best setting. Way beter than what get free from XP.

http://www.zabaware....asp?idProduct=5

Thank you both.
Best,
Richard

[Rainbow Werewolf]

I tried listening to the voices on the AT&T site but was not impressed. However, my dream self probably woudn't care. Personally, though I don't love the sound of my own voice, it can be effective in self-hypnosis.

[NancyBixby]

On the other hand if you're the sort of person who avoids spending money unecessarily you can do what I did: Use the demo off AT&T's web page then save/import the resultant .wav file. Din't co$t me a thing.

Well Squire, I thought it was a great idea. As long as it is for personal use, AT&T is fine with it. I had a good time this afternoon coming up with short affirmations to use. I was so loving to myself, that I even prefaced all my statements with, 'Sweet Nancy.' I figure that I will use all the help I can get combatting the old tapes. For the record, I felt that Lauren had the most agreeable voice for me.

I also have a free pc alarm (Kirby Alarm from download.com) that plays wav files. I created some interesting phrases to get me going in the morning.