[net.micro] Need Speech Synthesizer

nessus@nsc.UUCP (Kchula-Rrit) (04/13/84)

[The Cray-1(tm) in my basement runs CP/M(tm).<- :-) for line eater]

     I am building a project for my German class that uses a speech synthesizer
chip to generate German speech.  Since T.I. has not sent my speech synthesizer
box, I'm going to have to build my own.  My requirements are these:

     0.  Low-current drain(preferrably CMOS)
     1.  High speech quality/intelligibility in German or English
     2.  Low cost
     3.  Ease of use/interfacing/programming
     4.  I would also like the unit to be able to sing a short song(OPTIONAL).

     The chip need not be T.I. 99/4A compatible; I am going to build a small
dedicated box to generate a more or less "canned" presentation.  All responses
will be appreciated.

                                 Kchula-Rrit
                                 !menlo70!nsc!nessus

minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow) (04/14/84)

"High speech quality" and "low cost" are mutually exclusive and
will remain so for several years -- especially if $100.00 is your
idea of low cost.  The best speech quality is currently available
from DECtalk, which you can listen to by calling (617) 493-9922
(If it doesn't answer, you should assume the power is still off
in our lab.)

At the low-cost end of the spectrum, there is a Votrax-like chip
that was described in a recent issue of Byte magazine.  Also,
Phillips has a synthesizer chip that might be of interest.

(By the way, DECtalk's quality is due to the immense amount of
computing power used to generate the synthesized waveform --
we use a 5 Mips TI TMS32010 signal processor.)

Martin Minow
decvax!minow