Text-To-Speech Fans - Page 5

darryl · 03-24-2016, 10:42 PM

@Purple Lady. It is, like many things, a matter of personal taste. My choice is Ivona Nicole (Australian accent). When I first used it I had not tried tts for some years, and was vary pleasantly surprised. It had gone, in my opinion, from only marginally useable for listening to a book, to being both useable and comfortable. I can't say that I've shopped around widely for different voices, but of the ones I have heard this is my preference.

Conan46 · 03-25-2016, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I tried Ivona and thought all the voices sounded very robotic. Which voices do those who like Ivona use? Do the voices sound better on some books than others? The sample text on the Ivona website sounds terrible to me.

Several of us in this thread like UK Amy. As for books, those whose writers add accents to their characters or made up words like with fantasy books can be difficult to understand and for TTS to read.

Purple Lady · 03-25-2016, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darryl

@Purple Lady. It is, like many things, a matter of personal taste. My choice is Ivona Nicole (Australian accent). When I first used it I had not tried tts for some years, and was vary pleasantly surprised. It had gone, in my opinion, from only marginally useable for listening to a book, to being both useable and comfortable. I can't say that I've shopped around widely for different voices, but of the ones I have heard this is my preference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conan46

Several of us in this thread like UK Amy. As for books, those whose writers add accents to their characters or made up words like with fantasy books can be difficult to understand and for TTS to read.

I guess the particular voice doesn't matter for me. If you go to
https://www.ivona.com/ and listen to the different voices they all sound very robotic to me. Maybe it's just the text that is read? There are pauses and inflections that don't sound right. Here's the text they have on the site:

Quote:

Hello there, my name is Amy. I am one of the IVONA voices. I will read anything you want. Enter any text here and click Play.

Sydney's Mom · 03-25-2016, 01:05 PM

I never used audiobooks before, but I also only watched TV while I knitted. I was really into a book, and wanted to knit, too, so I tried TTS. It worked great! When there was a word that wasn't right, I just looked on the K5 right next to me, and knitted along! There is not enough good TV to fill up the time I want to knit. Of course, baseball season is starting soon!

Conan46 · 03-25-2016, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I guess the particular voice doesn't matter for me. If you go to
https://www.ivona.com/ and listen to the different voices they all sound very robotic to me. Maybe it's just the text that is read? There are pauses and inflections that don't sound right. Here's the text they have on the site:

Actually it sounded pretty good to me. I'm guessing how good it sounds depends in part upon the computer hardware you are playing it on. Probably on my older laptop it would sound choppy and slower than on my newer one. In a proper app reading an ebook it should sound better. Using Google Play books on a newer tablet Ivona sounds good, even a bit fast to my ears. Using Moon+ Reader it sounds quite good, same on an Amazon tablet. You need more than a paragraph or two to make up your mind about it. I get used to it as I listen to the book and forget it is TTS after awhile.

Conan46 · 03-30-2016, 07:13 PM

Google Now's Voice improving
http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/30/11...smoother-sound

Conan46 · 03-31-2016, 02:20 PM

It is fascinating how much goes into creating TTS:
http://www.androidcentral.com/check-...ce-was-created
It also gives me hope that in the not-too-distant-future TTS will be so natural no one will be able to tell the difference between it and a natural voice.

Barty · 03-31-2016, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conan46

Google Now's Voice improving
http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/30/11...smoother-sound

Very cool. Will they make this available as a stand alone TTS package? Looks like for now it is custom made for Siri-type interaction.

Conan46 · 04-01-2016, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barty

Very cool. Will they make this available as a stand alone TTS package? Looks like for now it is custom made for Siri-type interaction.

That's a good question. Google Now works with an online connection. I have seen the option in the past on Google Books to allow for online connection to get a better sounding voice. Not sure how integrated Google Books TTS is to this, but it would make sense that they would integrate it into Books.

QuantumIguana · 04-05-2016, 03:35 PM

I recently got the new $50 Fire tablet. My 9 year old daughter has a Kindle Touch. As an experiment, I had her listen to the TTS on both the KT and the Fire. She made a face at the Fire's TTS. It's not that the Fire's TTS is bad, it's just that she's so used to the KT's voice that it's like an old friend.

She actually likes the KT's TTS better than audiobooks (although not as much as me reading to her). My wife can't stand TTS, and I like it, but not as much as my daughter does. It really does take some training to get used to it.

tomsem · 04-05-2016, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I recently got the new $50 Fire tablet. My 9 year old daughter has a Kindle Touch. As an experiment, I had her listen to the TTS on both the KT and the Fire. She made a face at the Fire's TTS. It's not that the Fire's TTS is bad, it's just that she's so used to the KT's voice that it's like an old friend.

She actually likes the KT's TTS better than audiobooks (although not as much as me reading to her). My wife can't stand TTS, and I like it, but not as much as my daughter does. It really does take some training to get used to it.

Fire has several voices you can download for English.

LovesMacs · 04-08-2016, 08:24 AM

For those of you who use iOS and the Kindle app, here's a way I figured out to get the app to read to you:

1. From your Home screen, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech

2. Enable "Speak screen". This will let you activate TTS by swiping two fingers from the top to the bottom of the screen.

3. Make sure you have chosen a voice. The higher quality voices may need to be downloaded.

4. When you are reading your Kindle app, swipe the screen as described above. iOS's native TTS should begin reading, and a pop-up control panel should also appear.

Contrary to the description in the iOS Settings, TTS appears to continue reading your book from wherever you first activated it. I suspect this method would work with other e-reading apps.

booklover6 · 10-24-2016, 01:52 PM

I have recently discovered that I can listen to books via text to speech. Some pronunciations are bizarre, but I can deal with it.

Somehow I was able to get FB Reader to play a male voice. I can't get Ivona to work on my 2014 LG Volt, but with the male voice working, I am happy.

Conan46 · 10-24-2016, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by booklover6

I have recently discovered that I can listen to books via text to speech. Some pronunciations are bizarre, but I can deal with it.

Somehow I was able to get FB Reader to play a male voice. I can't get Ivona to work on my 2014 LG Volt, but with the male voice working, I am happy.

FB Reader is what I mostly use. Ivona will not work on some hardware, I've come up against that a few times.

Lima Bean · 10-27-2016, 03:24 PM

Text-to-speech technology has come a long way. I use the built-in voice on my Kindle Fire. Some of the pronunciations are off, but mostly it's spot on. I think it's amazing. Then again, back in the day I thought the Atari graphics were super cool.

03-25-2016, 01:05 PM	#64
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,899 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	Great on My K5 I never used audiobooks before, but I also only watched TV while I knitted. I was really into a book, and wanted to knit, too, so I tried TTS. It worked great! When there was a word that wasn't right, I just looked on the K5 right next to me, and knitted along! There is not enough good TV to fill up the time I want to knit. Of course, baseball season is starting soon!

04-08-2016, 08:24 AM	#72
LovesMacs Fanatic Posts: 513 Karma: 2644386 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: iPhone, Kindle Touch	For those of you who use iOS and the Kindle app, here's a way I figured out to get the app to read to you: 1. From your Home screen, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech 2. Enable "Speak screen". This will let you activate TTS by swiping two fingers from the top to the bottom of the screen. 3. Make sure you have chosen a voice. The higher quality voices may need to be downloaded. 4. When you are reading your Kindle app, swipe the screen as described above. iOS's native TTS should begin reading, and a pop-up control panel should also appear. Contrary to the description in the iOS Settings, TTS appears to continue reading your book from wherever you first activated it. I suspect this method would work with other e-reading apps. Last edited by LovesMacs; 04-08-2016 at 08:27 AM. Reason: Forgot Speech submenu

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03-24-2016, 10:42 PM	#61
darryl Wizard Posts: 3,108 Karma: 60231510 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Oasis, Huwei Ascend Mate 7	@Purple Lady. It is, like many things, a matter of personal taste. My choice is Ivona Nicole (Australian accent). When I first used it I had not tried tts for some years, and was vary pleasantly surprised. It had gone, in my opinion, from only marginally useable for listening to a book, to being both useable and comfortable. I can't say that I've shopped around widely for different voices, but of the ones I have heard this is my preference.

03-30-2016, 07:13 PM	#66
Conan46 Fanatic Posts: 575 Karma: 3400000 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Paperwhite 3	Google Now's Voice improving http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/30/11...smoother-sound

03-31-2016, 02:20 PM	#67
Conan46 Fanatic Posts: 575 Karma: 3400000 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Paperwhite 3	It is fascinating how much goes into creating TTS: http://www.androidcentral.com/check-...ce-was-created It also gives me hope that in the not-too-distant-future TTS will be so natural no one will be able to tell the difference between it and a natural voice.

04-05-2016, 03:35 PM	#70
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	I recently got the new $50 Fire tablet. My 9 year old daughter has a Kindle Touch. As an experiment, I had her listen to the TTS on both the KT and the Fire. She made a face at the Fire's TTS. It's not that the Fire's TTS is bad, it's just that she's so used to the KT's voice that it's like an old friend. She actually likes the KT's TTS better than audiobooks (although not as much as me reading to her). My wife can't stand TTS, and I like it, but not as much as my daughter does. It really does take some training to get used to it.

10-24-2016, 01:52 PM	#73
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,545 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre 1, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle, Kobo Libre Colour	I have recently discovered that I can listen to books via text to speech. Some pronunciations are bizarre, but I can deal with it. Somehow I was able to get FB Reader to play a male voice. I can't get Ivona to work on my 2014 LG Volt, but with the male voice working, I am happy.

10-27-2016, 03:24 PM	#75
Lima Bean Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 527094 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: USA (near Lima, Ohio) Device: Kindle	Text-to-speech technology has come a long way. I use the built-in voice on my Kindle Fire. Some of the pronunciations are off, but mostly it's spot on. I think it's amazing. Then again, back in the day I thought the Atari graphics were super cool.