Voice repair - SpeakUnique

[GaryM]

Just an update to let others know that I made a start with SpeakUnique on the desktop computer (running Linux). It doesn't need to download software, but does need a laptop or desktop and a USB headset. I'm using a Jabra 20 headset. Done about 220 sentences out of the 300 asked for. It's quite tiring so I do about an hour every morning. The final voice can only be used in their app on Apple or Android, but can be used on Windows with any text-to-speech software apparently. Not sure how good the app is as even though I've installed it, you can't use it until you've got the finished voice. The recording process is very simple to understand and allows you to play back each sentence to check it and re-record if necessary. I'll update when I've got the voice.

Gary

[Ellie]

Thanks for the update Gary - hope the results are good.

[Tess]

Sounds promising Gary! Keen to hear how you get on.

[denise]

And me. Xx my post reply button doesn't work first time. Never know if I'm going to post twice

[Barry52]

Hi Gary,

Good to hear you are cracking on with the recording. Consider 300 sentences as a breeze since you have to complete 1600 with Modeltalker. I much prefer the SpeakUnique app as I find it easier to use. I do hope you are happy with the results when you receive your voice.

Barry

[GaryM]

Well, I've got the voice samples to choose from and my wife and sister both said it sounds like me, so that's promising. You get five slightly different sample voices, but to be honest, I can't hear any difference between four of them and the fifth one is only slightly different. I think I'm just going to pick one. I've had very good feedback from their support team though, after I asked a couple of questions.

[GaryM]

Also, just discovered that there is a useful 45 minute webinar on their website that explains the whole process and answers a few questions.

https://www.speakunique.co.uk/professionals/

[GaryM]

Update: I downloaded the voice to my phone. Unfortunately, it struggled to cope with the processing required. So the voice sounded a bit like a Dalek, and was more unintelligible than my voice, which is pretty bad now but understandable by most people. My phone is a couple of years old and was from the cheaper end of the market (£140) so it didn't surprise me that it couldn't cope. I did check the list of suitable phones on their website before starting and mine wasn't on the list, but I was keen to get my voice stored before it got really bad, with a view to maybe upgrading the phone if needed. However, after contacting their support team I've been advised to wait a few weeks if possible because they're in the process of redesigning the app to require less processor power. I'm happy to wait for the time being as my main concern was to get my voice saved. It's still 'easier' to communicate by mouth than use an app. You need to download your voice before you can do anything with the app, but now I've been able to have a play with it it's very similar to Speech Assistant which I've also got on my phone. I might end up agreeing with Matthew that the problem is getting others to wait for your input before moving the conversation on, but I still wanted to give it a try. More updates to follow in the future. Oh, by the way, my phone is a Motorola Moto G5.

[Ellie]

Even Stephen Hawking complained about people not waiting for him to type a reply, so what hope have we 😏

Are you able to store phrases? I have an "I haven't finished talking" stored and use it when needed 😁

Love Ellie.

[GaryM]

Even Stephen Hawking complained about people not waiting for him to type a reply, so what hope have we 😏

Are you able to store phrases? I have an "I haven't finished talking" stored and use it when needed 😁

Love Ellie.

Yes, you can store phrases, Ellie. It also has a button that plays a 'hold the floor' phrase that can also be edited. Obviously I've not used it much but it seems as customisable as other TTS apps. It has user-editable categories.

[Ellie]

Lord knows what Matthew would change that Hold The Floor to 🤣🤣

[matthew55]

😉x

[Lynne K]

Good luck Gary. My voice on Predictable since their last update sounds like a darlik (don’t know if that’s the correct spelling). They’re working on it. Lynne

[lindylou1422]

Just to say, my son in law taped his 300 words some months ago - and when he played it back to me, I thought it was him talking it sounded so good and fluent - I thought it miraculous