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I’m really skeptical about TTS. There’s lots of theoretical and academic and research lab stuff that supposedly is quantum leaps forward in TTS. However, all th

I’m really skeptical about TTS. There’s lots of theoretical and academic and research lab stuff that supposedly is quantum leaps forward in TTS. However, all the commercial offerings sound like TTS and never match the breathless hype. Try them out and you can tell within seconds it’s a robot talking.

sschueller 4y ago
I have to disagree. The SBB (Swiss Rail) is now using a quite sophisticated TTS system [1] that sounds very clean and has a Swiss German accent in the high German its talking (Zürich accent based which is what most of the complaints are about). The old system was built using over 10k recording which was a enormous task The system now is able to announce pretty much anything including reasons for delay etc. and it does not sound like a bunch of recordings attached to each other. I am hoping it will be expanded eventually to switch accents depending on the region just how it already switches to French or Italian depending where you are. [1] https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/so-klingt-die-neue-stimme-der-sbb-832034335687 https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/so-klingt-die-neue-stimme-der-s...
- ale42 4y ago
  Except that... while the German-speaking one sounds relatively well, I am definitely unhappy with the new system in French. It sounds more unnatural (and harder to understand in certain cases) than the old system. Maybe it's just a lack of tuning of the French version vs. the German one, but still...
  - sschueller 4y ago
    I agree, I hope the fix that soon. I think the product they are using is from Germany which may explain the quality difference.
    - ale42 4y ago
      Do you know what the actual product is?
- 4ggr0 4y ago
  > Zürich accent based which is what most of the complaints are about I've given up on this a long time ago. Ads are almost always in a Zurich accent, except if the ad is for extremely regional stuff like secret cheese recipes or tourist ads for Graubünden. Zurich is the tech hub of Switzerland and the accent seems to be the default. Then again, who in their right mind would want an AI to talk with an accent from Thurgau (/s)
  - sschueller 4y ago
    Well we do have Tschugger[1] which is definitely not Zürich Swiss German... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1AwYqquL7k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1AwYqquL7k
    - 4ggr0 4y ago
      True, and thanks for reminding me! I've meant to watch it for some time now and heard that the second season was out. Have you watched it/did you like it?
      - sschueller 4y ago
        I watched it, it was ok. I did like the first season better.
        4ggr0 4y ago
        Might give it a shot then!
rippercushions 4y ago
Except when you're talking over a phone call that sounds like two tin cans connected with a string even on a good day. I'm regularly astonished at how bad international calls in particular have become, and you're regularly subjected to these even domestically, since so many call centers are in the Philippines or India these days. And this despite bandwidth being cheaper than ever.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  Unfortunately, all the bandwidth in the world can't compensate for latency, and the loss of quality in ADC, DAC and compression steps as currently implemented.
  - pjc50 4y ago
    It's all in the compression. That's why VOIP systems sound much better. Lots of telco systems still use AMR with a very low bitrate.
    - TeMPOraL 4y ago
      I can't think of a single VOIP system that sounded good. Of the ones I use regularly, like Messenger, Teams and Skype, they rarely if ever sound better than just making a regular phone call with the same device.
  - adql 4y ago
    Good enough ADC/DACs are so cheap and plentiful I don't even know why you're even mentioning them in same sentence

sschueller 4y ago

I have to disagree. The SBB (Swiss Rail) is now using a quite sophisticated TTS system [1] that sounds very clean and has a Swiss German accent in the high German its talking (Zürich accent based which is what most of the complaints are about). The old system was built using over 10k recording which was a enormous task The system now is able to announce pretty much anything including reasons for delay etc. and it does not sound like a bunch of recordings attached to each other. I am hoping it will be expanded eventually to switch accents depending on the region just how it already switches to French or Italian depending where you are. [1] https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/so-klingt-die-neue-stimme-der-sbb-832034335687 https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/so-klingt-die-neue-stimme-der-s...

ale42 4y ago
Except that... while the German-speaking one sounds relatively well, I am definitely unhappy with the new system in French. It sounds more unnatural (and harder to understand in certain cases) than the old system. Maybe it's just a lack of tuning of the French version vs. the German one, but still...
- sschueller 4y ago
  I agree, I hope the fix that soon. I think the product they are using is from Germany which may explain the quality difference.
  - ale42 4y ago
    Do you know what the actual product is?
4ggr0 4y ago
> Zürich accent based which is what most of the complaints are about I've given up on this a long time ago. Ads are almost always in a Zurich accent, except if the ad is for extremely regional stuff like secret cheese recipes or tourist ads for Graubünden. Zurich is the tech hub of Switzerland and the accent seems to be the default. Then again, who in their right mind would want an AI to talk with an accent from Thurgau (/s)
- sschueller 4y ago
  Well we do have Tschugger[1] which is definitely not Zürich Swiss German... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1AwYqquL7k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1AwYqquL7k
  - 4ggr0 4y ago
    True, and thanks for reminding me! I've meant to watch it for some time now and heard that the second season was out. Have you watched it/did you like it?
    - sschueller 4y ago
      I watched it, it was ok. I did like the first season better.
      - 4ggr0 4y ago
        Might give it a shot then!

rippercushions 4y ago

Except when you're talking over a phone call that sounds like two tin cans connected with a string even on a good day. I'm regularly astonished at how bad international calls in particular have become, and you're regularly subjected to these even domestically, since so many call centers are in the Philippines or India these days. And this despite bandwidth being cheaper than ever.

TeMPOraL 4y ago
Unfortunately, all the bandwidth in the world can't compensate for latency, and the loss of quality in ADC, DAC and compression steps as currently implemented.
- pjc50 4y ago
  It's all in the compression. That's why VOIP systems sound much better. Lots of telco systems still use AMR with a very low bitrate.
  - TeMPOraL 4y ago
    I can't think of a single VOIP system that sounded good. Of the ones I use regularly, like Messenger, Teams and Skype, they rarely if ever sound better than just making a regular phone call with the same device.
- adql 4y ago
  Good enough ADC/DACs are so cheap and plentiful I don't even know why you're even mentioning them in same sentence