I owe some thanks here to the people of this forum.
nosh has introduced me to Loquendo Voices (excellent at
http://www.loquendo.com/en/demos/demo_tts.htm), DSpeech, and G.O.T.D. At the site for DSpeech I learned that Windows XP does not have SAPI4, which explains why all those free voices have not been available to me. I installed the SAPI4 file given on the DSpeech page (
http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/), but maybe I have to restart for it to take effect. G.O.T.D. turns out to be a wonderful source for reviews of software that was given out free. I have made a note of it so I can remember to check there in the future (
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/textaloud-2266/#comments).
muntealb introduced me to Balabolka (
http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm) which is now installed on my computer. It was listed on TUCOWS (
http://www.tucows.com/Windows/AudioVideo/Audio/TextToSpeech/), but was not rated so I did not check it out previously. DSpeech is also there not rated. In my brief look at Balabolka, it seems up to the competition. As it reads the text, the letters change from black to blue so it is easy to track where the reader is. I'll report more later. muntealb also introduced me to Expressivo, which is on the TUCOWS list and is rated with the highest 5-cow rating. I don't have any good reason for not noticing it before other than overload (for $49 at
http://www.expressivo.com/experience/ideas_and_description.html). I really like the Jennifer voice. Maybe I can get the voice to use. In time I will check out the program more fully. By the way, at TUCOWS you can get the program for $29 (
http://www.tucows.com/preview/514550).
muntealb also introduced me to Nuance, which was reinforced by Doc Savage's comments. But I am in total overload now so I need to digest some of this.
neel spoke of wordtalk, a MS Word macro, but I have not been able to get into the web site given (connection timed out
http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/).
curt is a person who uses very few words to give lots of links to voices and additional TTS programs.
Jock Snow, Vellu (the Finnish guy), and I agree that Audrey is probably the best AT&T voice. It is not because she has an English accent. It is because Audrey has a clear voice with very pleasant tones.
And thanks to
Grorgy for introducing me to Bits du Jour. I bought the planning software that was offered today (
http://www.bitsdujour.com/). I am hoping it will help me with lesson planning in my teaching job, which has become very complicated of late.
In short, I am happy to be a part of this community. I have learned a lot!
Best wishes,
Marjorie