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Text-To-Speech Freeware?

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siouxdax:
Hello all:
Does anyone know of a good text-to-speech freeware app? I sometimes find myself having a hard time concentrating when reading news articles online, and thought that maybe such a program would help...

As usual, any input is very much appreciated!

Ampa:
Having tried many, I settled upon Balabolka.

It is free, regularly updated (though I must confess that I am not quite sure what changes each time!), there is a portable version, will follow along in the text, and export mp3s.

Note that the quality of output has a great deal to do with the voice pack you are using, Microsoft Sam will always sound rough, where the AT&T Natural Voices are probably the best quality, but are expensive and take a lot of space.

lanux128:
you can also try Ultra Hal Text-to-Speech Reader. the freeware has only computerized voices while the paid version bundles the high-quality AT&T Natural Voices (as noted by Ampa).

• http://www.zabaware.com/reader/

lanux128:
just found this thread which has much more recommendations in it..

• Searching for the best read-aloud software

widgewunner:
Opera has native built-in voice. It will speak to you. You do need to go to Tools->Preferences->Advanced->Voice and turn it on (it requires an additional download that is not installed by default).

I use it all the time.

It can also listen, and do what you tell it to do! (although setting that up to work right is a bit tricky)

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