Old voice synthesizer chips required...

A

Andre

Guest
Hi group,

Anyone here have any ideas what chip Prof. Stephen Hawking's voice
synthesizer uses? I see that he may need a replacement shortly if it
ever goes wrong, as the chip is no longer manufactured this could be
near impossible.

Original text follows...

London, Apr.12 (ANI):

Professor Stephen Hawking is in danger of losing his 'Dalek' voice
because an irreplaceable computer chip in the paralysed scientist's
electronic voicebox is at risk of breaking down due to old age.

Nevertheless, Hawking, 62, is against switching to a new software that
would give him a different sound. The author of the bestseller 'A
Brief History Of Time' has used the gadget since losing his voice in
1985.

"You can't buy the voice any more. Individual parts can be replaced
when they blow, but if the voice chip went we'd be in trouble. As
Stephen lives a very active life, every few days some
accident or other will happen," The Sun quoted Tom Pelly, Hawking's
technical assistant, as saying.

Hawking, who is crippled by motor neurone disease, can use two fingers
to click on words highlighted on a computer screen. The words are
converted by an adapted special synthesiser and broadcast by
loudspeakers, sounding just like a 'Dalek' from TV show 'Dr Who'.

"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman, it
pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is quite
important in lectures," Pelling added

-A
 
I use a program called SayzMe to read text aloud.
I think it sounds very much like his voice.
Perhaps the software could be adapted.
Russell

"Andre" <testing_h@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2c2cf14c.0404130940.13160eec@posting.google.com...
Hi group,

Anyone here have any ideas what chip Prof. Stephen Hawking's voice
synthesizer uses? I see that he may need a replacement shortly if it
ever goes wrong, as the chip is no longer manufactured this could be
near impossible.

Original text follows...

London, Apr.12 (ANI):

Professor Stephen Hawking is in danger of losing his 'Dalek' voice
because an irreplaceable computer chip in the paralysed scientist's
electronic voicebox is at risk of breaking down due to old age.

Nevertheless, Hawking, 62, is against switching to a new software that
would give him a different sound. The author of the bestseller 'A
Brief History Of Time' has used the gadget since losing his voice in
1985.

"You can't buy the voice any more. Individual parts can be replaced
when they blow, but if the voice chip went we'd be in trouble. As
Stephen lives a very active life, every few days some
accident or other will happen," The Sun quoted Tom Pelly, Hawking's
technical assistant, as saying.

Hawking, who is crippled by motor neurone disease, can use two fingers
to click on words highlighted on a computer screen. The words are
converted by an adapted special synthesiser and broadcast by
loudspeakers, sounding just like a 'Dalek' from TV show 'Dr Who'.

"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman, it
pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is quite
important in lectures," Pelling added

-A
Click to expand...
 
"Andre" <testing_h@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2c2cf14c.0404130940.13160eec@posting.google.com...
Hi group,

Anyone here have any ideas what chip Prof. Stephen Hawking's voice
synthesizer uses? I see that he may need a replacement shortly if it
ever goes wrong, as the chip is no longer manufactured this could be
near impossible.

Original text follows...

London, Apr.12 (ANI):

Professor Stephen Hawking is in danger of losing his 'Dalek' voice
because an irreplaceable computer chip in the paralysed scientist's
electronic voicebox is at risk of breaking down due to old age.

Nevertheless, Hawking, 62, is against switching to a new software that
would give him a different sound. The author of the bestseller 'A
Brief History Of Time' has used the gadget since losing his voice in
1985.

"You can't buy the voice any more. Individual parts can be replaced
when they blow, but if the voice chip went we'd be in trouble. As
Stephen lives a very active life, every few days some
accident or other will happen," The Sun quoted Tom Pelly, Hawking's
technical assistant, as saying.

Hawking, who is crippled by motor neurone disease, can use two fingers
to click on words highlighted on a computer screen. The words are
converted by an adapted special synthesiser and broadcast by
loudspeakers, sounding just like a 'Dalek' from TV show 'Dr Who'.

"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman, it
pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is quite
important in lectures," Pelling added

-A
Click to expand...
Hard to find the chip since no numbers were mentioned? What is the part
number etc. One of us may have 1 or 2
 
"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman, it
pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is quite
important in lectures," Pelling added
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that a 20-year-old voice chip is going to work better than
today's speech synthesis. I have some difficulty understanding Prof.
Hawking. Maybe he should just suck it up and work something out with these
people: http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo.cgi

Of all people to embrace new technology, you'd think Hawking would be the
first.
 
"Garrett Mace" (g.ryan@macetech.com) writes:
"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman, it
pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is quite
important in lectures," Pelling added


I highly doubt that a 20-year-old voice chip is going to work better than
today's speech synthesis. I have some difficulty understanding Prof.
Hawking. Maybe he should just suck it up and work something out with these
people: http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo.cgi

Of all people to embrace new technology, you'd think Hawking would be the
first.
Click to expand...
But the article makes it seem like he wants to keep his old voice.
Not really unexpected, since we have gotten used to it.

There really can't be a problem in emulating the old one.
Get the existing sounds by sampling the outputs if there's no
other way. Then someone can write a synthesizer program for
a cheap laptop that does the same thing using those sounds.
One can even build up a keyboard just like he has now.

A lot of thsoe old voice synthesizers were popular becasue
they could be used in embedded systems where resources were
low, and because back then any small computer had limited
resources. Who had space, in ROM, or on floppy disks, to
store sounds? But small computers have dwarfed anything
from twenty years ago (except for mainframes), and there
should be no limitation in emulating that old voice synthesizer
on a cheap used laptop.

Michael
 
Michael Black wrote:
"Garrett Mace" (g.ryan@macetech.com) writes:
"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman,
it pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is
quite important in lectures," Pelling added


I highly doubt that a 20-year-old voice chip is going to work better
than today's speech synthesis. I have some difficulty understanding
Prof. Hawking. Maybe he should just suck it up and work something
out with these people: http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo.cgi

Of all people to embrace new technology, you'd think Hawking would
be the first.



But the article makes it seem like he wants to keep his old voice.
Not really unexpected, since we have gotten used to it.

There really can't be a problem in emulating the old one.
Get the existing sounds by sampling the outputs if there's no
other way. Then someone can write a synthesizer program for
a cheap laptop that does the same thing using those sounds.
One can even build up a keyboard just like he has now.

A lot of thsoe old voice synthesizers were popular becasue
they could be used in embedded systems where resources were
low, and because back then any small computer had limited
resources. Who had space, in ROM, or on floppy disks, to
store sounds? But small computers have dwarfed anything
from twenty years ago (except for mainframes), and there
should be no limitation in emulating that old voice synthesizer
on a cheap used laptop.

....or taking it 'down' for a few minutes in order to dump the contents of
Click to expand...
the actual voice chip, in order to program a PROM.

jak

> Michael
 
"jakdedert" (jdedert@bellsouth.net) writes:
Michael Black wrote:
"Garrett Mace" (g.ryan@macetech.com) writes:
"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman,
it pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is
quite important in lectures," Pelling added


I highly doubt that a 20-year-old voice chip is going to work better
than today's speech synthesis. I have some difficulty understanding
Prof. Hawking. Maybe he should just suck it up and work something
out with these people: http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo.cgi

Of all people to embrace new technology, you'd think Hawking would
be the first.



But the article makes it seem like he wants to keep his old voice.
Not really unexpected, since we have gotten used to it.

There really can't be a problem in emulating the old one.
Get the existing sounds by sampling the outputs if there's no
other way. Then someone can write a synthesizer program for
a cheap laptop that does the same thing using those sounds.
One can even build up a keyboard just like he has now.

A lot of thsoe old voice synthesizers were popular becasue
they could be used in embedded systems where resources were
low, and because back then any small computer had limited
resources. Who had space, in ROM, or on floppy disks, to
store sounds? But small computers have dwarfed anything
from twenty years ago (except for mainframes), and there
should be no limitation in emulating that old voice synthesizer
on a cheap used laptop.

...or taking it 'down' for a few minutes in order to dump the contents of
the actual voice chip, in order to program a PROM.

I was going to say something like that, but it really depends on
Click to expand...
the IC. The ones that come to mind were not readable in that way.

I suppose the article wasn't really silly, but in the context of
this newsgroup it is silly that the article didn't mention the
IC number. As someone suggested, someone might have one, but
will never know unless the part gets publicized. And if we
had the part number, unless it was completely obscure, we
could all be looking at the datasheet to see what is
needed to emulate the thing.

Michael
 
exactly - they should spend time sampling everything from that chip
before it goes. Then they can use software to model the chip, and it
will sound the same. They do this kind of stuff with audio gear all
the time - for example Native Instruments and Emagic. They make
software that sounds like vintage keyboard instruments (which weigh
like 300 pounds and are huge) - I am sure they would cut a deal with
Mr. Hawking... maybe even make a buck or two selling the software to
other people who want to emulate his voice.
 
Michael Black wrote:
"jakdedert" (jdedert@bellsouth.net) writes:
Michael Black wrote:
"Garrett Mace" (g.ryan@macetech.com) writes:
"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman,
it pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is
quite important in lectures," Pelling added


I highly doubt that a 20-year-old voice chip is going to work
better than today's speech synthesis. I have some difficulty
understanding Prof. Hawking. Maybe he should just suck it up and
work something out with these people:
http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo.cgi

Of all people to embrace new technology, you'd think Hawking would
be the first.



But the article makes it seem like he wants to keep his old voice.
Not really unexpected, since we have gotten used to it.

There really can't be a problem in emulating the old one.
Get the existing sounds by sampling the outputs if there's no
other way. Then someone can write a synthesizer program for
a cheap laptop that does the same thing using those sounds.
One can even build up a keyboard just like he has now.

A lot of thsoe old voice synthesizers were popular becasue
they could be used in embedded systems where resources were
low, and because back then any small computer had limited
resources. Who had space, in ROM, or on floppy disks, to
store sounds? But small computers have dwarfed anything
from twenty years ago (except for mainframes), and there
should be no limitation in emulating that old voice synthesizer
on a cheap used laptop.

...or taking it 'down' for a few minutes in order to dump the
contents of the actual voice chip, in order to program a PROM.

I was going to say something like that, but it really depends on
the IC. The ones that come to mind were not readable in that way.

I suppose the article wasn't really silly, but in the context of
this newsgroup it is silly that the article didn't mention the
IC number. As someone suggested, someone might have one, but
will never know unless the part gets publicized. And if we
had the part number, unless it was completely obscure, we
could all be looking at the datasheet to see what is
needed to emulate the thing.
Click to expand...
Given that the various conditions which necessitate these sorts of devices
are often fatal, someone, somewhere; has one of these units, which a
deceased family member no longer needs....

In fact I know a person who uses one...maybe not the same brand, and he's
not dead; but it demonstrates that this shouldn't be all that big a problem,
given Mr. Hawking's status and worldwide reputation.

I wonder what the 'real' reason for posting this is.

jak
> Michael
 
"jakdedert" <jdedert@bellsouth.net> wrote in message news:<g8ffc.14831$Yw5.11654@bignews4.bellsouth.net>...
Michael Black wrote:
"jakdedert" (jdedert@bellsouth.net) writes:
Michael Black wrote:
"Garrett Mace" (g.ryan@macetech.com) writes:
"He's very against changing his voice. Although it sounds inhuman,
it pronounces words a lot better than software voices, which is
quite important in lectures," Pelling added


I highly doubt that a 20-year-old voice chip is going to work
better than today's speech synthesis. I have some difficulty
understanding Prof. Hawking. Maybe he should just suck it up and
work something out with these people:
http://www.rhetorical.com/cgi-bin/demo.cgi

Of all people to embrace new technology, you'd think Hawking would
be the first.



But the article makes it seem like he wants to keep his old voice.
Not really unexpected, since we have gotten used to it.

There really can't be a problem in emulating the old one.
Get the existing sounds by sampling the outputs if there's no
other way. Then someone can write a synthesizer program for
a cheap laptop that does the same thing using those sounds.
One can even build up a keyboard just like he has now.

A lot of thsoe old voice synthesizers were popular becasue
they could be used in embedded systems where resources were
low, and because back then any small computer had limited
resources. Who had space, in ROM, or on floppy disks, to
store sounds? But small computers have dwarfed anything
from twenty years ago (except for mainframes), and there
should be no limitation in emulating that old voice synthesizer
on a cheap used laptop.

...or taking it 'down' for a few minutes in order to dump the
contents of the actual voice chip, in order to program a PROM.

I was going to say something like that, but it really depends on
the IC. The ones that come to mind were not readable in that way.

I suppose the article wasn't really silly, but in the context of
this newsgroup it is silly that the article didn't mention the
IC number. As someone suggested, someone might have one, but
will never know unless the part gets publicized. And if we
had the part number, unless it was completely obscure, we
could all be looking at the datasheet to see what is
needed to emulate the thing.
Click to expand...
I've asked, and no response so far.
-A

Given that the various conditions which necessitate these sorts of devices
are often fatal, someone, somewhere; has one of these units, which a
deceased family member no longer needs....

In fact I know a person who uses one...maybe not the same brand, and he's
not dead; but it demonstrates that this shouldn't be all that big a problem,
given Mr. Hawking's status and worldwide reputation.

I wonder what the 'real' reason for posting this is.

jak
Michael
Click to expand...
 
Ummm....I don't think any of us should really worry about 'ol Steven, after
al, he has more money than all of us put together. If he needs a new synth
chip, I'm fairly certain that a couple of hundred thousand thrown around
would loosen them up from their respective dusty drawers. Maybe if he hadn't
decided to bang the wife of the guy that designed the unit for him, then
ultimately fire the guy as well, once the story became known, he wouldn't
have this problem. Oh...and I forgot...he also never got around to paying
the original guy that made/designed the unit as well, after banging the guys
wife, and firing him.
Poor, poor Mr Hawking....whatever shall he do???.


"Tim Marcus" <timfromsirius@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3a12184.0404140911.36f51d64@posting.google.com...
exactly - they should spend time sampling everything from that chip
before it goes. Then they can use software to model the chip, and it
will sound the same. They do this kind of stuff with audio gear all
the time - for example Native Instruments and Emagic. They make
software that sounds like vintage keyboard instruments (which weigh
like 300 pounds and are huge) - I am sure they would cut a deal with
Mr. Hawking... maybe even make a buck or two selling the software to
other people who want to emulate his voice.
Click to expand...
 
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