The voices in Speakonia use packages provided by Microsoft and L&H (now known as Nuance). Other benefits Edit. Some of the voices can have pitch and speech settings so high they can resemble cartoon characters.
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.
What do you need to know about free software?
Speakonia is a text-to-speech program created by the company CFS-Technologies (founded by Chris Schuster) used mainly in the creation of YouTube videos; in particular, 'Microsoft Sam reads..', for example. Arguably the most famous voices are Microsoft Sam, Microsoft Mike, Microsoft Mary, and Peter (Adult Male #1) as Radar Overseer Scotty.
Overview
Speakonia itself is fairly simple to use for the average user, regardless of its skill level. The graphical user interface is similar to Notepad, in a technical way. A user simply has to type what they want the voice to say, and when they click the button that looks like a play button, the selected text-to-speech voice will read it. The user can change the voice at any time by going to the drop-down menu labeled Voice under the Speech Properties, and selecting another voice. The user can also change the speed and volume of the voice with the sliders below the drop-down menu. It can also be installed in several languages.
Interface
The Speakonia interface consists of 4 main elements: the menu bar, the toolbar, the text box, and the 'Speech Properties' Box.
The Menu Bar is mostly for working with saving and exporting files, as well as registering the program. It is not the main focus of the program.
The toolbar has some saving feature shortcuts, as well as commands for playing, pausing and stopping the voice from reading the text that has been entered into the text box.
The Text Box is where you will spend most of your time in the program. You simply type what you want the voice to say into the text box.
Lastly, the Speech Properties window is the handiest tool in Speakonia. It allows you to switch between voices quickly, change the speed at which the voice speaks, change it's pitch and volume. This window also has the handy-dandy 'Lexicon' feature, which allows you to change the pronounciation of a word if the voice does not say it correctly.
Microsoft Voices
By default, Speakonia is included with at least 11 voices. This number can be greatly increased by installing a separate package of voices, called simply: Microsoft voices Mary, Sam, and Mike. Once the download is complete, install the package and the Microsoft voices will be available for you to use, along with a number of other voices (RoboSoft 1-6, whispers, etc.).
Exporting as .WAV
Speakonia has an option to export the spoken text as .WAV audio files. In order to export a file as a .WAV audio file, you must register Speakonia. To register, one must simply give their name and E-mail address. From there, you will receive a code by e-mail and once registered, you will unlock all features of Speakonia. Registration is essential for anyone who wishes to use the voices in their YouTube videos.
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Trivia
The Default Adult Voices of Speakonia are actually adapted from the Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice voices. They have been renamed also.
There are no pitch, speed and volume indicators to display levels of pitch, speed and volume.
The Microsoft Voices included in Windows XP differ from the ones in Speakonia, with modified speech patterns. Instead it matches Windows 2000 Microsoft Sam.
CFS-Technologies no longer supports Speakonia, but still has the program available for download on its site. (also available on the CNET download site)
Speakonia will not work with Windows RT.
Test voice of every TTS Voices are: 'This is a test for Speakonia.'
To use the full potential of Speakonia, the following registration key is needed:
Microsoft voices (Sam, Mike, Mary and RoboSoft voices): http://www.mediafire.com/?e4hkxgt5jbsxu72
The other voices (such as British voices) can no longer be downloaded from the Speakonia website. They can however, be downloaded from here, provided by Ducky. More links are available for the voices (which include more voices than previously available) either here or here.