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The Microsoft text-to-speech voices are speech synthesizers provided for use with applications. Microsoft Sam is the default text-to-speech male voice in Microsoft Windows 2000. Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary are optional male and female voices respectively, available for download from the Microsoft website. For example, you can download a favorite female voice like Mary, download your mother tongue from over 11. Mary, Mike, Sam and More (7.3MB) Hot!
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Web interface for Microsoft Sam & friends written in C & D (vibe-d), runnable on headless linux.
Demo: https://tetyys.com/SAPI4
Setup
SAPI4 server compilation on local Windows machine
- Install Microsoft Speech SDK 4.0 (SAPI4SDK.exe).
- Run
vcvars32.bat
of your oldest installation of Visual Studio, SAPI4 is a wonder of '90s, but it should compile with Visual Studio 2017 too. - Compile:
cl sapi4.cpp ole32.lib user32.lib Ws2_32.lib /MT -I'C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Speech SDKInclude'
.
Web server compilation & SAPI4 server setup on remote Linux machine
- Clone SAPI4_web & move
sapi4.exe
(SAPI4 server),spchapi.exe
(Microsoft Speech 4.0 API) andtv_enua.exe
(Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice Amer. Eng. TTS Engine) to the linux server. The voice of Bonzi Buddy lives intv_enua.exe
. - Install wine (
sudo apt-get install wine
), 1.8.7 is fine. If wine doesn't work on your system, you must stop here. - Install Microsoft Speech 4.0 API in the wine environment:
wine spchapi.exe
. - Install Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice Amer. Eng. TTS Engine in the wine environment:
wine tv_enua.exe
. - Run SAPI4 server(s) first:
wine sapi4.exe [Local listen port],[Voice name]
, for examplewine demo.exe 23453,Adult Male #2, American English (TruVoice)
orwine demo.exe 23452,Sam
. - Modify
SAPI4_web/views/index.dt
lines 41-42 to match your target voices (sorry, it can be done automatically). - Install
dub
anddmd
from http://d-apt.sourceforge.net/ . - Go to SAPI4_web and compile the web server:
dub build --build=release
. - Run web server with currently running SAPI4 server(s):
./sapi4 --ports=[port1,[name1]:[port2],[name2]:...
, for example./sapi4 --ports=60002,Sam:60003,Bonzi
. - Pass the web server through nginx - add this to nginx config:
location ^~ /SAPI4/ { proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:23451/; }
. Note that the web server will work only on/SAPI4/
location, if you want to change that, change references to scripts and other assets inSAPI4_web/views/layout.dt
,SAPI4_web/public/scripts/tts.js
. - Go to
http(s)://localhost/SAPI4/
, putsoi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi
as text, set speed to 450 and enjoy.
You might be familiar with Speakonia. As CFS-Technologies have released an unlimited license (http://www.cfs-technologies.com/home/) for Speakonia, you can get .wavs Microsoft Sam & other voice genereated text with Speakonia too, however web interface is more convenient and generates text much faster. Speakonia is set to generate text at real-time of speaking speed and SAPI4 server is set to generate text at x16777215 of real-time speaking speed. You can download .wavs from web interface too (right click the player and press
Save audio as...
, at least on Chrome).You can generate text from an API too, endpoints are
/VoiceLimitations?voice=(voice)
and /SAPI4?text=(text)[&voice=(voice)][&pitch=(pitch)][&speed=(speed)]
. ()
- required parameters, []
- optional parameters.If the Microsoft Sam is very busy, you can scale SAPI4 by running it multiple times with different ports but same voices. Run the single instance of web server with different ports but same names too.
It's possible to run a combination of SAPI4 server on Windows Server and web server on Linux server, without need of
wine
. You will need to modify sapi4.cpp
to listen on 0.0.0.0
and firewall it to accept connections only from linux server.CFS-Technologies no longer supports the Speakonia software, but still allows the download and use of it. Visit the CFS-Technologies site for a free registration key for Speakonia.
Not a fictional Eastern European country from a Marx Brothers movie, Speakonia is actually a modest freeware utility that reads text out loud. Speakonia comes with about 20 voices (all with strong robotic accents) and lets you quickly change the reading speed and pitch. It's also little trouble to correct the pronunciation of words (proper names, for instance). Speakonia can save text in WAV files for playback when you're driving or jogging, but unfortunately it can't save sound files in the MP3 format, so you may need a third-party conversion utility. The program interface is clear and straightforward; you simply select text in any document and press Ctrl C to read it aloud. However, Speakonia lacks controls for skipping to the next sentence or paragraph. In spite of those drawbacks, its decent performance and free price make it a reasonable choice for the vision-impaired or people who'd rather do their reading with their ears than their eyes.
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