a bit of trivia I found interesting

[Glenn Ervin]

I wish  someone would create a Linux kernel for the BNS, as I do not like
its OS too much,     and there are no drivers for external devices other
than what FS sells, like their over priced disk drives.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregory Nowak" <greg at romuald.net.eu.org>
To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 8:49 PM
Subject: Re: a bit of trivia I found interesting


Actually, I personally think that the accent sounds like crap, and the bns
sounds wonderful. Whenever I listen to the accent, I can't help the notion
that it is better suited for speaking French instead of English.

I have known for a while that the bns used the si 263 chip. I had also
suspected that the accent used the same speech chip as the bns because of
how they both sounded on head phones, but wasn't absolutely sure.

What I think makes the difference is how the chip is controlled by the
software.

Greg


On Wed, Dec 18, 2002 at 07:55:53PM -0600, Adam Myrow wrote:
> I was just looking through files on my computer and stumbled over a README
> file from an old shareware DOS screen reader called TinyTalk.  The part
> that I found interesting is that it listed several synthesizers that
> existed around 1994 and what chipset they used.  It mentioned that the
> Braille 'N Speak line as well as the Accent line both use a chip called
> the SSI263.  I found this interesting because the Braille 'N Speak sounds
> like crap, has terrible pronunciation, and practically no inflection.
> The Accent still sounds very mechanical, but has a lot more inflection,
> and its pronunciation is 10 times better than the Braille 'N Speak line.
> Apparently, this chipset wasn't the only piece required to produce speech.
> So, anybody know what makes such a radical difference?  I know this isn't
> directly Linux related, but I figured a lot of the list members have been
> using computers for a long time and might know what makes the difference
> or where I may find such information.
>
>
>
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> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
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