So our resident expert on collecting rare synths and modernizing some has done it again. Datajake1999 has made an IBM Viavoice wrapper for sapi5. This, like the NVDA addon package, is legal as it does not contain any Voiavoice or Eloquence binaries. You will obtain them through purchasing a program that contains an Eloquence binary, the most legal method probably being Kurzweil1000 as that's the only currently available program that still contains a non-bound version of Eloquence.
For obvious reasons, this seems to only work under the 32bit sapi registry probably due to Eloquence itself not having a 64bit binary. But it is still definitely better than nothing, and better than dealing with the drm in Code Factory's build, as long as you have a legal means to access Eloquence.
https://github.com/datajake1999/SAPI5IBMTTS
You are not logged in. Please login or register.
2024 Note on Registrations
ibm Viavoice for sapi5: legit, legal, and stable! (Page 1 of 5)
AudioGames.net Forum → Off-topic room → ibm Viavoice for sapi5: legit, legal, and stable!
Posts: 1 to 25 of 103
#1 2021-03-17 00:29:33
#2 2021-03-17 01:11:21
this is generally cool, but i wish it could be used in 64 bit apps as then i can have a good tts voice
#3 2021-03-17 01:12:08
my only problem is that it doesnt have 64 bit support
#4 2021-03-17 01:25:11
Man, just last year I would’ve loved this. Unfortunately, I recently made the switch to ESpeak-NG full time because I found a specific Voice that, unlike Eloquence and the default ESpeak voice, doesn’t give me a headache after a certain amount of time. It has the qualities that I like from Eloquence, and it’s not as sharp. Nevertheless, I’m back in a situation where I can’t use this voice for 64 bit applications or even 32 bit applications, because ESpeak-NG doesn't have a sapi driver. So to clarify, I switched to a new voice that works for me right after my old voice got released as a sapi voice that would have worked for me had I stuck with it, and now that I switched to a new voice, I can only use it with NVDA. Oh, the irony.
#5 2021-03-17 01:31:02
Espeak NG does have a sapi driver for 64bit, but it is buggy as all hell.
#6 2021-03-17 01:48:29
interesting and stupid forum errors making me double post
#7 2021-03-17 01:55:56
Oh, it does? How do you mean buggy; buggy as in it randomly cuts off sentences? If there's a sapi mode they must have hid it somewhere cause I could only ever find the command line version. Actually, this probably isn't the best place for me to ask that now that I think about it...
#9 2021-03-17 23:10:32
And here i was wondering why the heck espeak on wine was cutting of sentences.
It happened with normal speak though as far as i remember, and i don't thing normal espeak had that issue on windows it self.
#10 2021-03-17 23:35:38
Finally someone picked this thing up. I was a tester, as well as contributor. All I'll say is, 64-bit might be coming sooner than you may thing, wink.
#11 2021-03-18 00:21:44 (edited by rings2006 2021-03-18 00:44:34)
so i got the dll from code factorys eloquence, but its not working, where can i find it properly
#12 2021-03-18 04:49:02
@rings2006: Uh, legal sources. The dll for code factory's eloquence is not going to work here even if you purchased a license for it. It's laced in drm. The most legal way to get this is through an application that has an open Eloquence interface, the only one still commercially maintained being Kurzweil1000.
#14 2021-03-18 04:57:40
thanks
#15 2021-03-18 05:05:58
Actually, this works with the CF eloquence, since the SAPI interface uses the Eloquence Command Interface (ECI) for communicating with the synth. As far as I know, the Eloquence synth itself doesn't have any DRM.
#16 2021-03-18 07:08:49
I thought it did, since their drm was probably able to work its way into dll's. I know that Armadilo was able to copy-protect dll's back when I was using it.
#17 2021-03-18 07:12:45
It does work with CF eloquence. I had a legal copy of cf eloquence to be used on my system, and I've tested the dll. I can say that's no DRM is interfered with the dll at the moment. I can move the dll out from the directory itself.
#19 2021-03-18 16:12:33 (edited by Slender 2021-03-18 17:54:48)
Technically, Eloquence does have built in copy protection, but it was actually turned off somewhere around Eloquence 5 or so, released on February 8, 2000, and IBM's implementation of the synth had it disabled a long time before that, probably since around 1998 or 1997. All the DRM on Code Factory's product is on their frontend to the synthesizer, and the underlying Eloquence files are the same ones we've had for years, which were last compiled on July 30, 2002. The only change Code Factory made to the underlying files, as far as I can tell, was to add their certificate to sign the binaries.
#20 2021-03-18 18:08:45
I had known about the copy protection Eloquence originally had, interesting that CF chose not to touch the original dll. Then again, that would probably be a redundancy since the application is calling the dll anyway, and that would probably slow down performance.
#21 2021-03-18 19:40:56 (edited by Nikola 2021-03-18 19:43:00)
Well, this sounds really cool, but it doesn't work on my system for some reason. So I download it, extract the archive, in this case to the root of the C drive where I have the Sapi5_IBMTTS folder. I get Eloquence library, copy it to the folder and rename it to IBMECI.dll. Then, I launch command prompt as admin, go to the folder, type install, and I am told that installation is finished. However, no apps really see a new voice. I tried NVDA or the 32 bit sapi Control panel.
Edit: Nevermind, you are supposed to copy the language files too, not only the DLL.
#22 2021-03-18 20:43:15
where do you get those from in code factorys eloquence, i might be stupid asking
#23 2021-03-18 21:39:13
I actually got them from Jaws. It's easiest considering you can even just get the demo.
#24 2021-03-18 22:51:06
@rings2006
The required Eloquence files are in the root of where you chose to install Eloquence for Windows from CF.
The language files you'll need are:
* DEU.SYN: German
* ENG.SYN: British English
* ENU.SYN: American English
* ESM.SYN: Castilian Spanish
* ESP.SYN: Mexican Spanish
* FIN.SYN: Finish
* FRA.SYN: Standard French
* FRC.SYN: Canadian French
* ITA.SYN: Italian
* PTB.SYN: Brazilian Portuguese
These are included with most programs that use Eloquence/ViaVoice so they should be easy to get.
Optionally if you know where to get them, you can also copy the following files:
* CHS.SYN: Simplified Chinese
* JPN.SYN: Japanese
* KOR.SYN: Korean
Note: If you wish to use/install these languages, you'll also need to copy chsrom.dll, jpnrom.dll, and korom.dll for the languages to speak properly.
#25 2021-03-18 22:58:31
It's worth noting that you don't need all language files; just the ones you want to install. I only did US English, for example. We check if each one exists in the install script.
Posts: 1 to 25 of 103
AudioGames.net Forum → Off-topic room → ibm Viavoice for sapi5: legit, legal, and stable!
Generated in 0.032 seconds (39% PHP - 61% DB) with 10 queries