5 ms·

you got a link anywhere?

nathanyukai 9y ago
probably this one: https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio/ https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio...
- veli_joza 9y ago
  I missed that one, and it's the best I heard so far. Bit of noise in the background, but the voice itself is very believable. I can imagine in year or two the radio and TV will start using this tech instead of actual speakers. Also, translation and synchronization of any content will be so much cheaper.
  - jpindar 9y ago
    Try listening to the NOAA weather radio. They've been using very good TTS for years.
    - i336_ 9y ago
      Wow, they are. Very surprised. This is so good I'm wondering whether this is actually a massive (massive) sound bank. I think it might be a sound bank. A random radio receiver site I found that doesn't require Flash, tuned to NOAA for Akron OH: http://tunein.com/radio/NOAA-Weather-Radio-1624-s88289/ http://tunein.com/radio/NOAA-Weather-Radio-1624-s88289/ The list I got the above link from (^F "noaa"): http://tunein.com/radio/Weather-c100001531/ http://tunein.com/radio/Weather-c100001531/ I suspect the warbling I'm hearing is not due to TTS imperfections but 64kbps artifacting.
      - jpindar 9y ago
        The one I listen to will occasionally mispronounce something in a way that a human never would, or say the name of a punctuation mark.
        i336_ 9y ago
        Huh. I see. Do you happen to know what station you use? I'd kind of like to hear this for myself (for the sole reason that I'd like to get an idea of what it sounds like, since that does definitely sound like a TTS).
        jpindar 9y ago
        KZZ40,162.45 MHz, Deerfield NH. Note that the stations have several different voices they use for different reports. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure which one I heard the mistakes on - it might have been one of the older ones. BTW, I like the Tom voice more than the newer Paul. Paul is more realistic, but is also more soft-spoken and monotonic. Tom has more inflection and sounds more...forceful. I know it's just my imagination, but sometimes Tom sounds annoyed at bad weather :)
        i336_ 9y ago
        > KZZ40,162.45 MHz, Deerfield NH. I see. I can't seem to find an online receiver for that frequency, although I did find that WZ2500 uses or seems to have used that frequency (for Wytheville VA). I had a look at SDR.hu (a site I may or may not have just dug out of Google for the first time), but unfortunately the RTL-SDR receivers I can find seem to focus entirely on 0-30MHz. There are a couple ~400MHz receivers but nothing for ~160MHz. (I may have fired up the receiver I found in NH and fiddled with it, puzzled, for 10 minutes before realizing the scale is in kHz, not MHz... yay) > Note that the stations have several different voices they use for different reports. Right. > Now that I think about it, I'm not sure which one I heard the mistakes on - it might have been one of the older ones. That's entirely possible. (But hopefully not. I kind of want to hear. :P) > BTW, I like the Tom voice more than the newer Paul. Paul is more realistic, but is also more soft-spoken and monotonic. Tom has more inflection and sounds more...forceful. I know it's just my imagination, but sometimes Tom sounds annoyed at bad weather :) I just learned about this service, I have to admit (I'm in Australia). It sounds really nice to be able to have a computer continuously read out the weather conditions to you as they change. And I can completely relate to the idea of preferring the voice that sounds unimpressed when the weather's bad :D
    - CharlesW 9y ago
      Do we know what they're using? I found a few references to AT&T Natural Voices.
      - jpindar 9y ago
        According to Wikipedia, "In 2002, the National Weather Service contracted with Siemens Information and Communication and SpeechWorks to introduce improved, more natural voices. The Voice Improvement Plan (VIP) was implemented, involving a separate computer processor linked into CRS that fed digitized sound files to the broadcast suite.... Additional upgrades in 2003 produced an improved male voice nicknamed "Tom", which could change intonation based on the urgency of a product" Also, here are some audio clips http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/info/newvoice.html http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/info/newvoice.html
bobsil1 9y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13992454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13992454
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

probably this one: https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio/ https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio...

veli_joza 9y ago
I missed that one, and it's the best I heard so far. Bit of noise in the background, but the voice itself is very believable. I can imagine in year or two the radio and TV will start using this tech instead of actual speakers. Also, translation and synchronization of any content will be so much cheaper.
- jpindar 9y ago
  Try listening to the NOAA weather radio. They've been using very good TTS for years.
  - i336_ 9y ago
    Wow, they are. Very surprised. This is so good I'm wondering whether this is actually a massive (massive) sound bank. I think it might be a sound bank. A random radio receiver site I found that doesn't require Flash, tuned to NOAA for Akron OH: http://tunein.com/radio/NOAA-Weather-Radio-1624-s88289/ http://tunein.com/radio/NOAA-Weather-Radio-1624-s88289/ The list I got the above link from (^F "noaa"): http://tunein.com/radio/Weather-c100001531/ http://tunein.com/radio/Weather-c100001531/ I suspect the warbling I'm hearing is not due to TTS imperfections but 64kbps artifacting.
    - jpindar 9y ago
      The one I listen to will occasionally mispronounce something in a way that a human never would, or say the name of a punctuation mark.
      - i336_ 9y ago
        Huh. I see. Do you happen to know what station you use? I'd kind of like to hear this for myself (for the sole reason that I'd like to get an idea of what it sounds like, since that does definitely sound like a TTS).
        jpindar 9y ago
        KZZ40,162.45 MHz, Deerfield NH. Note that the stations have several different voices they use for different reports. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure which one I heard the mistakes on - it might have been one of the older ones. BTW, I like the Tom voice more than the newer Paul. Paul is more realistic, but is also more soft-spoken and monotonic. Tom has more inflection and sounds more...forceful. I know it's just my imagination, but sometimes Tom sounds annoyed at bad weather :)
        i336_ 9y ago
        > KZZ40,162.45 MHz, Deerfield NH. I see. I can't seem to find an online receiver for that frequency, although I did find that WZ2500 uses or seems to have used that frequency (for Wytheville VA). I had a look at SDR.hu (a site I may or may not have just dug out of Google for the first time), but unfortunately the RTL-SDR receivers I can find seem to focus entirely on 0-30MHz. There are a couple ~400MHz receivers but nothing for ~160MHz. (I may have fired up the receiver I found in NH and fiddled with it, puzzled, for 10 minutes before realizing the scale is in kHz, not MHz... yay) > Note that the stations have several different voices they use for different reports. Right. > Now that I think about it, I'm not sure which one I heard the mistakes on - it might have been one of the older ones. That's entirely possible. (But hopefully not. I kind of want to hear. :P) > BTW, I like the Tom voice more than the newer Paul. Paul is more realistic, but is also more soft-spoken and monotonic. Tom has more inflection and sounds more...forceful. I know it's just my imagination, but sometimes Tom sounds annoyed at bad weather :) I just learned about this service, I have to admit (I'm in Australia). It sounds really nice to be able to have a computer continuously read out the weather conditions to you as they change. And I can completely relate to the idea of preferring the voice that sounds unimpressed when the weather's bad :D
  - CharlesW 9y ago
    Do we know what they're using? I found a few references to AT&T Natural Voices.
    - jpindar 9y ago
      According to Wikipedia, "In 2002, the National Weather Service contracted with Siemens Information and Communication and SpeechWorks to introduce improved, more natural voices. The Voice Improvement Plan (VIP) was implemented, involving a separate computer processor linked into CRS that fed digitized sound files to the broadcast suite.... Additional upgrades in 2003 produced an improved male voice nicknamed "Tom", which could change intonation based on the urgency of a product" Also, here are some audio clips http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/info/newvoice.html http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/info/newvoice.html

bobsil1 9y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13992454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13992454

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]