Where can I get great sounding voices?

Last reviewed: 4/2/2012

HOW Article ID: H041203

The information in this article applies to:

  • VoiceMarkupKit 4

Summary

It may be sound cliché, but people do judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a synthesizer by how it sounds. Other factors such as performance, footprint, and pronunciation are only considered if a voice first passes the sound test.

Vendors package and license their voices to accommodate a variety of deployment scenarios and platforms. Some license directly to the end-user like purchasing a font. Most license to ISVs who bundle the voices with their application or hosted solution.

Ideally, your application can function on a system that already has a preferred voice selected as well as on one where you deliver the voice with your application.

More Information

The following Text-to-Speech vendors offer a variety of voices and licensing options:

Acapela TTS SDKs and Runtimes

  • Acapela TTS Windows
  • Acapela TTS Windows Mobile
  • Acapela TTS Windows Server

Acapela Group
33, Boulevard Dolez
7000 Mons, Belgium
+32 (0)65 37 42 75
www.acapela-group.com
susanne.magnusson@acapela-group.com

Cepstral TTS SDKs abd Runtimes

  • Cepstral Windows
  • Cepstral Telephony
  • Cepstral Windows CE

Cepstral LLC
1801 East Carson Street, Second Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
412-432-0400
www.cepstral.com
sales@cepstral.com

Microsoft TTS SDKs and Runtimes

Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
(425) 882-8080
www.microsoft.com

Nuance TTS SDKs and Runtimes

  • RealSpeak Solo
  • Vocalizer Automotive
  • Vocalizer Mobile
  • Vocalizer Network

Nuance Communications, Inc.
1 Wayside Road
Burlington, MA 01803
(781) 565-5000
(781) 565-5001 (fax)
www.nuance.com