You will need to use version 2.2.5 or greater of Voice Elements in order to use the Microsoft TTS voices. It should come with the dll 'CTI32MicrosoftTTS' that is required to run the Microsoft Speech Platform Voices. You may download that using this link.
Windows 10 comes with two default voices installed to be used with the text-to-speech engines. These two voices (namely Microsoft Zira and Microsoft David) that come pre-installed in Windows 10 are to be used with both apps and desktop applications. In case you are installing a third party voice pack for TTS then most probably it will be available for the desktop applications only. Here is how you can install third party TTS voices, set them as default and use them in Windows desktop applications:
Download and install TTS Voice Packs in Windows 10
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One of the sources for downloading free Microsoft and LTS TTS voices is Zero2000. You can also purchase very high quality TTS voices for Windows from companies like Ivona, Cepstral or CereProc. But if you want to try out these high quality voices in Windows 10, then you can also download the 30-day trial versions too.
And its good to learn on a desktop until you get to all the complicated equipment. Press that instead of the power key.It should run one key recovery giving you the option to restore the Os.For three weeks I've searched the Internet for the answer to repairing my friends Lenovo Laptop! Restore lenovo laptop windows 10. If you look on the laptop next to the power button should be a smaller key with orange symbol on it.
Installation of these packs is usually very simple. All you have to do is launch and go through the setup installer package and it will automatically install all the voices included in the package in your Windows 10 PC.
Testing VisionAid Voices Packs in Windows 10
Microsoft Speech Platform 11
If you have downloaded the speech packs from VisionAid website (link above), then the setup package installs some extra tools in your PC. You can open the Start Menu icon and search for Speech Test to find a small speech testing tool. The other tool installed is for managing the installed voice licenses on your PC.
The Speech Test tool can be used to check the proper installation of these voices in your PC. You can select one of the installed voices from the drop-down list, then type something in the text box and click on the Speak button. There are some other options for this tool like speak punctuation and parsing XML files.
Setting a Default Voice for TTS in Windows 10
Some voices in Windows 10 are only meant for apps, and some for only desktop applications, while others can be used both for apps and traditional desktop applications. Most of the third party voices are designed to be used with the desktop applications. In order to use them, you have open Control Panel and choose the default voice.
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You can press the Win+X and select Control Panel from the menu. In the Control Panel, search for “speech” and then click on the Change text to speech settings. In the window that opens, you can choose a default voice from Voice Selection list-box and then finally click on OK button.
Free Microsoft Voices
Note: Not all voice packs installed may show up in these settings depending on the API used by them. Even the same voice pack may use different API for different versions of the voice packs. For using them, use specific apps like TTSReader mentioned below.
Using the Newly Installed Voice in Desktop Application
For using the newly installed voices in Windows 10 requires you to either use a Windows app that you can download from the official Microsoft apps store or a desktop application like TTSReader that you can download from http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Other-Office-Tools/TTSReader.shtml.
TTSReader is a free application and can read all the text that you have copied to the clipboard automatically. In the application, you can choose one of the available TTS voices and control its speech, volume and pitch. TTSReader can also save the speech output to an MP3 or WAV audio file.
Conclusion: If you are not happy with the default Microsoft Zira and Microsoft David TTS voices available in Windows 10, then you can get third party TTS voices for free or buy them online. Using the third party TTS voices in Windows 10 is a breeze if you know what type of voice packs you have installed.
Related posts:
Windows Narrator is one of several accessibility functions in Windows 10A Brief Guide to Windows 10 Accessibility ToolsA Brief Guide to Windows 10 Accessibility ToolsWhether you struggle with poor vision or want to explore speech control, Windows 10 offers plenty of accessibility tools to help you out. We show you where to find and how to use them.Read More. It serves as a simple screen reader for users with visual impairments.
But even if you don’t need it for that reason, you may still find Windows Narrator useful—and you may want to download and install voices other than the default. These are the basic text-to-speech (TTS) voices you can download for Windows Narrator.
How to Download More Voices for Windows Narrator
Windows 10 does include a few extra voices besides the default. To change them, go to Settings > Ease of Access > Narrator and under Personalize Narrator’s voice, choose a new voice from the dropdown box.
But what if you want entirely new voices? Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it once was.
In prior versions of Windows, you could utilize a few voice-related downloads from Microsoft. Using them, you were able to dive into the Registry and make a few modifications to tell Windows to use the new voices.
We tested the once-popular methods for this, but none of them work properly anymore. Windows 10 keeps the Narrator voice information in a different location than earlier versions, rendering earlier methods unsuccessful.
Microsoft Text To Speech Voice Downloads
While you may be able to dig around in the Registry to make this work, there’s no guarantee that future updates to Windows 10 won’t break it. And we don’t like recommending methods that require extensive Registry editing, as they’re more likely to introduce issues.
Thus, if you need more Windows Narrator voices, you’ll want to follow Microsoft’s recommendation to look at third-party tools. It points to a few other speech synthesizer software tools that support SAPI 5, including:
None of these tools are free, but if you need a high-quality screen reader or voice, they’re well worth paying for.
If you want to type with your voice instead, check out the best free speech-to-text tools for WindowsThe Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for WindowsThe Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for WindowsLooking for the best free Windows speech to text software? We compared Dragon Naturally Speaking with free alternatives from Google and Microsoft.Read More.
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