RFENTON@UNCAEDU.BITNET (BOB FENTON) (01/18/90)
Index Number: 6328 [This is from the BLIND-L mailing list on Bitnet. Bill McGarry] Hi Bret: There are three that I would recommend based on their price, speech quality, speed, and response time. I emphasize that they are not the cheapest available, but the best bargains for the money. 1. Audapter By Personal Data Systems. 2. The Accent synthesizer: distributed In Canada By Frontier Computing. (I din 't know that the American companhy. 3. The Appolo,: by BIT in Boston. Sorry I don't have any of the addresses with me. Regards, Bob
John.Mcneely@f10.n130.z1.fidonet.org (John Mcneely) (06/04/90)
Index Number: 8602
I was on Podigy and saw a message there from a guy who has a blind
aquaintance and is of the impression that a speech symthesizer wont work
with any terminal pgm, but I know this to be wrong as I once had a blind
friend that has some synthesizer and used Telix regularly. As she is in
the process of moving, I can't contact her. Does anyone on this echo know
of a brand of synthesizer that is usable with a good communications
program?
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!130!10!John.Mcneely
Internet: John.Mcneely@f10.n130.z1.fidonet.orgEric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (06/05/90)
Index Number: 8625
JM> is in the process of moving, I can't contact her. Does anyone on this
JM> echo know of a brand of synthesizer that is usable with a good
JM> communications program?
It's not the synthesizer itself that you need to be concerned about, it's the
speech program (the TSR that intercepts screen output and drives the
synthesizer). There are several such programs and people are using all of
them with telecommunications programs. Telix is popular; so are Procomm and
even Binkleyterm. Unless the TSR is taking up so much of the system's time
that communication interrupts don't get serviced, there shouldn't be any
problem.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!115!778.1!Eric.Bohlman
Internet: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.orgcjohn975@pallas.athenanet.com (John Johnson) (06/07/90)
Index Number: 8697 In article <12173@bunker.UUCP> John.Mcneely@f10.n130.z1.fidonet.org writes: >Index Number: 8602 >of a brand of synthesizer that is usable with a good communications >program? I'm a blind computer user and am currently using the Artic technologies speech hardware and software. Although I have an older version, (version 1.40) I have had no problems using it with both Procomm and Telix. Your friend should be *careful* because some of the "bottom of the line," speech systems encounter problems with application software and hardware such as word processors and terminal software. I believe the new version of Artic comparable to what I have costs somewhere around $800.00 and the speech quality is better than average. There are several other similar products on the market so my advice would be to shop around for the price and features your friend wants. Hope this helps.
Nancy.Feldman@f605.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Nancy Feldman) (04/20/91)
Index Number: 15077
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
I am using an Echo PC speech synthesizer from Street Electronics
along with Enable Reader. Does anyone else use this combination?
I have been quite happy with this low-cost combination. It does
most of what I want, and for the hundreds of dollars I'm saving by
not buying one of the commercial software programs, I'm happy. But
I was wondering what other low-cost (under about $400) speech
synthesizers there are out there? What might their advantages be
over the Echo?
I'm hesitant to change synthesizers, as I have become very used to
the Echo's speech, but I'm just curious to find out what else is
out there.
On a humorous note: Does anyone else out there ever accidentally
pronounce a word as their synthesizer does? Boy, this can be
embarrassing; let me tell you!
-> MegaMail v2.01 #0:Consider what I have not said.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!105!605!Nancy.Feldman
Internet: Nancy.Feldman@f605.n105.z1.fidonet.orgGary.Petraccaro@f90.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Gary Petraccaro) (04/23/91)
Index Number: 15085
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Nancy,
First, the new Double Talk sells for under $300 and emulates the Echo
fairly closely. The old Sonix 200 board sells very cheaply nowadays, but,
I don't know if it's still being produced. The Sounding Board sells for
$395. Ron Hutchinson's new one also fits in your price class I believe.
All of them are internal; cards that plug into the computer. The Double
Talk is the only one which is not based on the 263 chip.
Second, I started out with an Echo and I found myself thinking uk for
O K. Names were the next thing I remember forgeting how to pronounce,
(Mica, how do you pronounce yours?), and my newest is E G A, pronounced as
one word. This causes my computer professional friends to giggle
uncontrollably.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!90!Gary.Petraccaro
Internet: Gary.Petraccaro@f90.n129.z1.fidonet.orgEric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (04/23/91)
Index Number: 15088
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
It depends on whether you want an internal or external and on how much you
want to spend. A very good internal synthesizer is the $279 Doubletalk PC
from RC Systems. Like all synthesizers, it takes a bit of getting used to if
you've spent years with another one, but I for one think the quality is
exceptionally good. A big advantage is that it does all the text-to-speech
translation with its internal processor, so it doesn't steal time from your
computer's processor.
The same "speech engine" is available in a portable external unit as the
Laptalk from Roger Smith (not to be confused with the Laptalker from AFI).
Slightly more expensive is the Soundingboard from GW Micro, which has received
very good reviews here. Doug Geoffray from GW can tell you more about it;
he's a regular participant here.
As far as software goes, the latest version of Tinytalk, the $75 shareware
screen reader, will be available shortly on many of the boards carrying this
conference (some of them have an earlier version which should give you a good
feel for what it can do). It supports nearly all the major synthesizers,
including the ones mentioned here.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!115!778.1!Eric.Bohlman
Internet: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.orgTed.Filteau@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Ted Filteau) (04/25/91)
Index Number: 15172
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
NF> On a humorous note: Does anyone else out there ever
NF> accidentally pronounce a word as their synthesizer does? Boy,
NF> this can be embarrassing; let me tell you!
Hi Nancy,
One of my hats use to be working as a Catholic church organist. I would
keep the information for weddings in my Braille 'n speak. This was
quite useful, as brides are known to change their minds about things.
The people I would work with on a regular basis began routinely to
pronounce things as does the BNS. A good example of this is the "Ave
Maria." We had to be careful with this practice.
... Ted
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460!Ted.Filteau
Internet: Ted.Filteau@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org