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Convert Any Text to MP3s with VozMe
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 2:10 AM on January 29, 2008
There's still no getting around the fact that text-to-speech conversion doesn't sound quite, well, human. VozMe, a free text-to-speech web app, sounds better than you'd expect for a free web service, and is pretty convenient to use. Simply paste text into a web form from any source, hit the "Create MP3" button, and you can then listen through a Flash-based player or download an MP3 for later listening. VozMe can also be embedded in web sites or used through an iGoogle gadget, and while you still won't mistake VozMe for a friendly voice, it gets the job done with decent pronunciation, and without any two-program hacks.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
pkoutoul
Posted 8:07 AM 28/1/08
You get what you pay for ;-)
To me, it's unlistenable. But it got me to thinking about the possibilities of utilizing my hour long commute to listen to email, etc.
This looks promising and sounds much better: [www.naturalreaders.com] But it requires a download.
pkoutoul
Can-Car
Posted 7:53 AM 28/1/08
It´s so simple that only we must push a button. With so little effort we cannot request that the result was perfect.
Can-Car
Kevin Purdy
Posted 7:48 AM 28/1/08
@ian320: Yikes, sorry about that. Fixed.
Kevin Purdy
ian320
Posted 7:35 AM 28/1/08
The link points to example.com :S
ian320
mr_oshodi
Posted 8:44 AM 28/1/08
just copy n paste this post (the text) into vozme and tell me how that sounds
mr_oshodi
knvb1123
Posted 8:24 AM 28/1/08
Mac speech is already a lot better than anything. With the new voices included in Leopard, at times, it really sounds like a human.
knvb1123
pkoutoul
Posted 8:16 AM 28/1/08
I should have known better. The link I gave above is crippleware. The only voice you get is "Microsoft Sam", which is no better than the one at VozMe. To get the natural sounding voices you have to fork over from $40-$100. Sorry.
pkoutoul
daddydave
Posted 5:36 AM 29/1/08
My experiment with listening to roboticized text ended after I started talking like a robot myself.
daddydave
TPSreports
Posted 5:36 AM 29/1/08
It does a good job of saying "mother fucker"
TPSreports
Mostro
Posted 6:36 AM 29/1/08
In spanish sounds very aceptable...
Mostro
david.elliot
Posted 6:36 AM 29/1/08
It called me a pansy
] =
david.elliot
drjayphd
Posted 6:36 AM 29/1/08
Now, pair this with an RSS reader and you'll be printing money, yes?
drjayphd
The Amazing Ant
Posted 8:36 AM 29/1/08
I like how well this works, especially considering the price, but I found a limit...
I don't know exactly how long their limit is, but I gave it the wikipedia article on Artificial Neural Networks... I don't think it liked me trying that...
In the meantime, this is a very cool find, so long as you don't need a 9-page document on advanced programming techniques.
The Amazing Ant
somecommenterguy
Posted 9:39 AM 29/1/08
Holy god that's bad. That's worse than the old Mac Moose.
somecommenterguy
Silentheero
Posted 9:39 AM 29/1/08
The best I have found (in the 5 minutes of googling) is AssistiveWare Infovox software. The British dude is perfect. 2 problems though: not free and for Mac only. (the second is not a problem for most though).
[www.assistiveware.com]
Silentheero
jflaming
Posted 11:36 AM 29/1/08
This seems like one of those things that everyone keeps talking about, but hasn't really come to pass. I remember playing with text-to-speech ten years ago.
Verdict?
Still sucks.
jflaming
da5id_nz
Posted 5:36 PM 29/1/08
I reckon AT&T Natural Voices sounds the best. Is an online demo here with max 300 chars, but it is very sluggish in downloading the completed .wav
da5id_nz