From: barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N. Barrett)
Subject: Re: C= : Where's the Speech?
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:15:54 GMT

In article <57432@dime.cs.umass.edu> barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett) writes:
>
>[Followups are to c.s.a.advocacy.]
>
>>>In article <Bz09KH.HDp@news.iastate.edu> barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N. Barrett) writes:
>>>>   Why would a DSP be necessary for something as simple as speech synthesis?
>
>	Good speech synthesis is *not* simple.  You don't know what you are
>talking about.  The synthesized speech from personal computers would never
>fool anyone into thinking it was a real person talking.  Maybe that's
>because it's HARD to create convincing computer voices, eh?  (Digital
>sampling doesn't count.)
>
>>In article <Bz1v4z.4qI@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> pejanes@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Peter Janes) writes:
>>>At a recent U of W users group meeting, a Commodore rep hinted that an
>>>improved in-house version is being written--one that may take advantage of
>>>a (then-unannounced) DSP card.
>
>In article <Bz276t.n1x@news.iastate.edu> barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N. Barrett) writes:
>>   I still think that would be a stupid move.  That would mean that only a 
>>tiny number of Amigas with a DSP would be supported with speech...
>
>	Marc once again has jumped to an illogical conclusion based on his
>own paranoia and fantasies.  (No surprise.)  Just because speech synthesis
>may "take advantage of... a DSP card" doesn't mean that it won't work on
>a stock Amiga, idiot.

   Then why has Commodore removed the speech capability completely from 
AmigaOS 2.1 and AmigaOS 3.0?  The OS additions to support the DSP are not 
planned until AmigaOS 3.1.  Logically, if routines were planned to support
speech with both a DSP and the standard hardware, they would not have changed
anything with respect to the existing routines until AmigaOS 3.1.  That they
removed it sooner seems to support the idea that from now on speech will only
be supported with a DSP.

>>With 2.0.4, the speech capability even on an A500 or A1000 is already quite
>>good.  The improvements in moving to a DSP would not be all that great; 
>
>	Marc, you clearly know absolutely nothing about speech synthesis.
>Don't you think that having over 250 times the sample resolution and
>who-knows-how-many-times the processing power will make a difference?!?
>Have you ever compared an Ensoniq Mirage with an EPS-16+?  The difference
>is *staggering*.

   Your problem is that you pay too much attention to raw numbers, and too
little attention to reality.  Sure, a DSP can blow away the standard hardware
in creating speech, ON PAPER.  Run the standard 2.0 'say' program sometime
(you may have to reinstall the 2.0.4 speech libraries to do it), and listen to
how good the speech is.  Sure, it is fairly obviously a computer, but it is
also quite good and VERY understandable.  With some tweeks (using
SpeechToy 2.0), the speech can be made even better.  

   In other words, the speech is good enough already that I just don't see all
that much room for improvement.  You can install an array of DSPs or even an
array of Crays all dedicated to doing speech synthesis, and the speech would
not be improved all that much.

>>...the speech libraries could be written something like the math libraries;
>>if enhanced hardware is present, software supporting the enhanced hardware
>>would be automatically kicked in.
>
>	The first intelligent thing you've said all day.  Your paranoid
>conclusion that a DSP would be required is total speculation.  It's
>what is known as a "straw man" argument.  If you build up something out
>of nothing, it's easy to kick it down.

   Kick it down if you want, but it is the most reasonable explanation to date
for why Commodore did not bother updating their licesnse to keep the speech
synthesis libraries in AmigaOS 2.1 and 3.0.

> //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>| Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center |
>| University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA  01003  --  barrett@cs.umass.edu |
> \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////

---
| Marc Barrett -MB-  |  email: barrett@iastate.edu
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