APX/XTS voice announcement

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asmitty0010
Posts: 413
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:48 pm

APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by asmitty0010 »

anybody recommend a good text to speech tool that will allow me to export in a .wav file into the CPS? Apparently there used to be a good one using a website from at&t but the url is no longer active.

Thanks for any help.
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triptolemus
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:09 pm

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by triptolemus »

The ATT Natural Voices thing was sold to Wizzard Speech a number of years ago.

You can purchase the SDK, or you can create samples on the webpage and capture them on your PC with Audacity or something similar, then export them in the required format and resolution for import into CPS.

http://www.wizzardsoftware.com/text-to-speech-sdk.php
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crazyboy
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Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 10:29 am

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by crazyboy »

I use http://www.fromtexttospeech.com/, and then batch edit the voice files via goldwave to what the CPS voice announcement utility likes.
motorola_otaku
Posts: 1854
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 7:03 am

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by motorola_otaku »

triptolemus wrote:The ATT Natural Voices thing was sold to Wizzard Speech a number of years ago.

You can purchase the SDK, or you can create samples on the webpage and capture them on your PC with Audacity or something similar, then export them in the required format and resolution for import into CPS.

http://www.wizzardsoftware.com/text-to-speech-sdk.php
If you have Chrome or Firefox there is a trick you can use under the Inspect Element tab to capture the raw WAV files.

-Left-click over the page and select Inspect (Element.)
-Click on the Network tab.
-Hit F5 or reload the page.
-Select your voice at 8k, enter your text, and click Submit.
-The .wav file link will appear at the bottom of the Network tab window as a long file name starting with 1.ag, and will repeat until you click "Play." Left-click over the link and select "Open in new tab."
-The file should pop up in a new browser tab with an audio player or a "Save as..." dialog, depending on how your browser is configured. If an audio player appears just left-click and select "Save as."
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triptolemus
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Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:09 pm

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by triptolemus »

That's an awesome trick, thanks. I may have to fix my VAs now since that trick takes away much of the pain.

Thanks!
com501
Posts: 1088
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 4:00 pm
What radios do you own?: Over 50 - All Motorola

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by com501 »

Should be a sticky!!
motorola_otaku
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Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 7:03 am

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by motorola_otaku »

Word to the wise: selecting 8k on the Wizzard Speech page results in a slightly quieter audio file than selecting 16k and resampling to 8k in Audacity. I learned that the hard way when I updated some templates at work with new channels, and had to figure out why the voice announcements were going up and down in volume while spinning the channel knob around.
sjxts3000
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Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:14 pm

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by sjxts3000 »

Here's the method I use...and it works rather well.

1) go to http://www.fromtexttospeech.com and make up your voice files. You may have to play around with the "speed" and actual wording to get it to sound just right as desired. Once happy, output the file.
2) go to http://audio.online-convert.com/convert-to-wav and convert the file to WAV format with the required specs per APX CPS help.
3) Use APX CPS to convert the properly formatted WAV file to MVA format (used by APX radios)
4) Program your radio(s) with the new voice files.
NIFOG291
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:49 am
What radios do you own?: XTS 5000,XTL 5000, APX7000

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by NIFOG291 »

did you download the fromtexttospeech software? can it be used without the download?
sjxts3000
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Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by sjxts3000 »

NIFOG291 wrote:did you download the fromtexttospeech software? can it be used without the download?
It appears to be an online-only service. No offline download that I'm aware of.
Flucero28
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:47 pm
What radios do you own?: XTS500,XTS3000,MT2000,Asaber

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by Flucero28 »

I use balabolka. Free and works great.
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chartofmaryland
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Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2002 11:25 pm
What radios do you own?: Alot

Re: APX/XTS voice announcement

Post by chartofmaryland »

Another for the tool kit

https://ttsmp3.com/

Works great at making the file

Downloads and then using the audio.online makes the convert to .wav a snap

CoM
If the lights are out when you leave the station and then come on the second you key up, you know you have enough power.
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