# I need a text-to-speech program that doesn't sound like a robot... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262 "2007-09-06T16:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/1 "2007-09-06T16:50:52Z")
I downloaded Read Please which works ok but it mispronounces nonstandard words badly and it still sounds like a robot. Are there any better ones? I’m taking all of my classes online this year and it helps me retain material if I hear it aloud as I read it on the screen, so I’m experimenting with using a text-to-speech program to go through the online text “lectures”. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/2 "2007-09-06T17:16:30Z")
This one doesn’t sound like a robot. > **[AI Voices - NaturalReader Home](https://www.naturalreaders.com/)** > > NaturalReader: Free Text to Speech for Online, Mobile App, Commercial license and Education with AI voices. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/3 "2007-09-06T18:50:49Z")
Hey that’s awesome! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/4 "2007-09-06T20:32:25Z")
If you’re looking for something that doesn’t cost, you might try [Festival](http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/festival/), which is open source (see also [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_Speech_Synthesis_System)). You might also check out the related [Festvox](http://festvox.org/) speech synthesis, which aims to make it easier for people to implement custom voices. If you happen to use Linux, most distros I’ve used have precompiled packages available. Alone, it will probably still sound like a robot to you; however, you can use the Edinburgh “speech tools” to add emotion expression and manipulation, which does a lot for making it sound more human. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/5 "2007-09-07T03:16:35Z")
I should add I need this for my laptop, which runs Windows Vista… ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/6 "2007-09-07T06:48:00Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I should add I need this for my laptop, which runs Windows Vista… [/QUOTE] Just so there’s no confusion: > [@Festvox Festival download page](#): > > The system was (and still is) primarily developed under Unix (Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris) because the authors are by far most familar with these. However the system has been ported to Windows and is used in a number of real applications on that platform. Although there is full support for Windows we do not yet feel it is as mature or stable the versions under Unix. We use Festival on some 1GHz laptops in our human/robot interaction research (I’m working on my PhD in computer science), as does almost every lab I’ve come into contact with. Just so you know it’s not crap software (although it may not have the bells and whistles you may find in a commercial package). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-text-to-speech-program-that-doesnt-sound-like-a-robot/418262/7 "2007-09-07T07:21:41Z")
Not exactly what you’re asking for, but this is so impressive, I have to mention it. [Vocaloid](http://www.vocaloid.com/en/index.html) is a speech/voice synthesiser from Yamaha that can _sing_ (and speak, apparently). Here’s an MP3 link to a demonstration: > **[Zero-G - Professional Sample Libraries and Kontakt Virtual Instruments](https://zero-g.co.uk/)** > > Zero-G create professional Kontakt virtual instruments and royalty free audio sample libraries for musicians, composers and sound designers. Download high quality cinematic, vocal, SFX, acoustic, world instruments and EDM samples. We sell Kontakt... (ALL vocals in that sample are synthetic).