I see those comments are gonna come back to haunt me. Well, yes I agree that a hardware synth costs a hell of alot of $. I was lucky last year to have had a trust fund mature so I went out and bought a doubletalk which at the time cost me $400 and it was one of the last ones that I knew of in the country. Brand new anyway. I will stand to be corrected. but yes in the situation of a laptop and if there's no other option, software speech is well worth clock cycles. Shaun.. "Has anyone ever tasted an "END"? Are they really bitter?" EMAIL: shauno at goanna.net.au ICQ: 76958435 YAHOO ID: blindman01_2000 IRC NICK/SERVER: |3|1ndm4n on #aussiefriends on www.jong.com:6667 On Tue, 22 May 2001, Kirk Wood wrote: > > 1: aAs far as I'm aware, software synthesys ties up a great deal of system > > resources including the sound card unless of course you run a sb-live. > > Geoff pointed out that you can get a card with multiple streams. There are > a number able to do this. But there are other considerations. > > First, *most* of the people asking for this are looking at a particular > situation. They want the portibility and are well aware there are tradeoffs. > (There are always tradeoffs.) Yes, it takes away clock cycles. But if you > are in a cramped spot and have no room for a synth, the clock cycle is > worth it. > > Second, you can always add another sound card if it only handles one > stream. Last time I looked, I could buy a sound card for as little as > $5. And many have modules available. Even a $35 card is cheaper then any > hardware synth. > > Pointing out the problems with software speech is pointless. Most of those > posting with the desire to see this are aware there are problems. They > already know that this will take time. And also, don't asume they are > somehow less understanding of the advantages of a hardware synth. In my > not so humble opinion making computing more affordable is a reasonable end > in itself. Software speech can drop the cost of this by almost a > grand. We are not talking chump change. The lowest cost hardware synth I > know of is over $200. If $200 is chump change to any list members please > let me know. I will personally put forth the time to get a > "scholarship" program started for synths helping out those who don't have > that kind of money burning. > > ======= > Kirk Wood > Cpt.Kirk at 1tree.net > > Nothing is hard if you know the answer or are used to doing it. > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup >
