Amazon Echo - Page 4

WT Sharpe · 03-28-2016, 12:58 PM

I apoligize if this has already been posted. It's kind of hard to check from my phone.

P.S.: Don't watch this within earshot of an Echo!

[youtube.com]uvKwSTJ2LlE[/youtube]

WT Sharpe · 03-28-2016, 12:59 PM

I apoligize if this has already been posted. It's kind of hard to check from my phone.

P.S.: Don't watch this within earshot of an Echo!

Synergi · 05-04-2016, 11:21 AM

I've been testing text to speech, TTS between Amazon echo and my Kindle fire HDX seven. The Amazon echo uses Alexis voice, and the Kindle fire HDX7 uses one of the many IVona voices. I am a big fan of Ivona speech technologies. I know that Amazon owns Ivona now, and I'm sure Echo is using that technology, but Alexa's text to speech sounds much better on the echo.

What I would like to see added to the Amazon echo for both the Kindle books and our audible books, is a sleep timer. A lot of times I listen to my books at night, and often I fall asleep. It would be nice if I could set it to stop at a certain time like a 30 minute timer or 45 minute timer. It will make it easier to find where I left off before I fell asleep the next day.

Has anyone else tested the text-to-speech between Kindle fire and their Echo? What do you think? I think Alexis voice is a little bit more realistic than Ivonas.

copyrite · 05-04-2016, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synergi

What I would like to see added to the Amazon echo for both the Kindle books and our audible books, is a sleep timer. A lot of times I listen to my books at night, and often I fall asleep. It would be nice if I could set it to stop at a certain time like a 30 minute timer or 45 minute timer. It will make it easier to find where I left off before I fell asleep the next day.

.

You can set a sleep timer now! Start your book a readin' to ya, and say

"Alexa, set a sleep timer for 30 minutes."

tubemonkey · 05-04-2016, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synergi

Has anyone else tested the text-to-speech between Kindle fire and their Echo? What do you think? I think Alexis voice is a little bit more realistic than Ivonas.

I didn't like it when I tried it on my Echo and haven't tried it on my tablets. I much prefer professional narration and would rather do without if it wasn't available.

Synergi · 05-04-2016, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyrite

You can set a sleep timer now! Start your book a readin' to ya, and say

"Alexa, set a sleep timer for 30 minutes."

Awesome, does this shut down kindle or audible reading from Echo?

Tube monkey, so do I. Unfortunately everything I want to read isn't on Audible. Audible has me so lazy now I hate reading,I just like listening. TTS isn't perfect for sure but it's miles from where it was on Kindle keyboard.

P.S. Copyrite I just tried it and it works great. Thanks for the tip.

copyrite · 05-04-2016, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synergi

TTS isn't perfect for sure but it's miles from where it was on Kindle keyboard.

Ain't that the truth?

To answer your question, Alexa's voice is much smoother to me than the Ivona Kendra voice I use with TTS on my Android devices (with mostly Moon+ Reader), but I can control the speed more to my liking through the Android devices than I can (not at all) with the Echo.

The sleep timer will work with anything you're listening to, audio-wise, not sure though if it works however if you're listening through Bluetooth with another device.

I tend to only listen to audio books, TTS of books I've already read before I go to sleep.

Synergi · 05-04-2016, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyrite

Ain't that the truth?

To answer your question, Alexa's voice is much smoother to me than the Ivona Kendra voice I use with TTS on my Android devices (with mostly Moon+ Reader), but I can control the speed more to my liking through the Android devices than I can (not at all) with the Echo.

The sleep timer will work with anything you're listening to, audio-wise, not sure though if it works however if you're listening through Bluetooth with another device.

I tend to only listen to audio books, TTS of books I've already read before I go to sleep.

Joey, Sali and UK Amy are pretty good. I never cared for Kendra's voice.

Maybe I should listen to things I've already listened too. I either fall asleep or stay awake well past my bedtime. Just one more chapter or 45 more minutes

WT Sharpe · 05-04-2016, 10:18 PM

After hearing what Synergi and copyrite said about the improvement in TTS since the K3, I'll have to give it a second look. I well remember TTS on the Kindle Keyboard back in the day, and it was somewhat lackluster.

Catlady · 05-04-2016, 10:33 PM

Not Echo-related, but I went searching around in my new Fire tablet to see if I had an option for TTS because of these posts--which I do--so I just want to say thanks!

copyrite · 05-04-2016, 10:45 PM

TTS isn't for everyone, but I used it on the Kindle Keyboard before I finally broke down and got a Audible subscription, and just about anything would sound better than the KK's TTS!

It took me a while to get used to the inflection and nuances in Audible's narrators voices because I was so used to the flat synthetic voice of the TTS.

WT Sharpe · 05-04-2016, 11:09 PM

I just tried the the Alexa-powered TTS. It is indeed far better than it ever was on the old KK. Not perfect — there were a couple of instances of unnatural use of emphasis in the short science essay I listened to — and one major flaw: Alexa went straight from the final sentence of that essay to the next essay in the book with no pause. Had I not known the title of the next essay, I would have assumed the title was a continuation of the previous essay. She needs to learn how to pause between chapters and to differentiate chapter titles from the rest of the text. Overall, however, the flow was much more natural, and the phrasing was, with the minor blips I noted, surprisingly good. I could see using this feature as an alternative way to access a work of fiction.

Synergi · 05-05-2016, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I just tried the the Alexa-powered TTS. It is indeed far better than it ever was on the old KK. Not perfect — there were a couple of instances of unnatural use of emphasis in the short science essay I listened to — and one major flaw: Alexa went straight from the final sentence of that essay to the next essay in the book with no pause. Had I not known the title of the next essay, I would have assumed the title was a continuation of the previous essay. She needs to learn how to pause between chapters and to differentiate chapter titles from the rest of the text. Overall, however, the flow was much more natural, and the phrasing was, with the minor blips I noted, surprisingly good. I could see using this feature as an alternative way to access a work of fiction.

Glad you gave it try. Its really not bad at all. Kindle Keyboard was so robotic I couldn't stand it. Alexa has a really pleasing voice. I wish I could use her voice on the Fire tablets. Whatever they did for Alexa seems a touch more advanced then the Kindle fire Ivona voices. But really, they are not bad either. I used UK Amy awhile but they recently updated all the voices so they sound a touch better. Joey is good to for the men voices.

Tarana · 05-06-2016, 02:39 PM

My brother can't read any longer, well, long enough to read a novel, so the TTS has been great. He uses it both on the Echo Dot (which I made him buy) and on his cheapo $49 Fire. It does take a little getting used to, but after awhile, you think nothing of it. But I DO recommend trying different voices - I like to switch between British and American voices depending on the novel.

Yes, I have now abandoned KK's TTS unless I'm at an appointment and just can't read any more. Then in goes the headphones and on goes the TTS. I'll use the KK as my take-a-long until it dies.

tubemonkey · 05-06-2016, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarana

My brother can't read any longer, well, long enough to read a novel, so the TTS has been great. He uses it both on the Echo Dot (which I made him buy) and on his cheapo $49 Fire. It does take a little getting used to, but after awhile, you think nothing of it. But I DO recommend trying different voices - I like to switch between British and American voices depending on the novel.

Yes, I have now abandoned KK's TTS unless I'm at an appointment and just can't read any more. Then in goes the headphones and on goes the TTS. I'll use the KK as my take-a-long until it dies.

I want Amazon to add Jungle Chimp to their repertoire of voices

05-04-2016, 11:21 AM	#48
Synergi Addict Posts: 341 Karma: 4683770 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW, iPadPro, Galaxy Note 5, 8 (tab) & Galaxy Tab S3	I've been testing text to speech, TTS between Amazon echo and my Kindle fire HDX seven. The Amazon echo uses Alexis voice, and the Kindle fire HDX7 uses one of the many IVona voices. I am a big fan of Ivona speech technologies. I know that Amazon owns Ivona now, and I'm sure Echo is using that technology, but Alexa's text to speech sounds much better on the echo. What I would like to see added to the Amazon echo for both the Kindle books and our audible books, is a sleep timer. A lot of times I listen to my books at night, and often I fall asleep. It would be nice if I could set it to stop at a certain time like a 30 minute timer or 45 minute timer. It will make it easier to find where I left off before I fell asleep the next day. Has anyone else tested the text-to-speech between Kindle fire and their Echo? What do you think? I think Alexis voice is a little bit more realistic than Ivonas. Last edited by Synergi; 05-04-2016 at 11:24 AM.

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03-28-2016, 12:58 PM	#46
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I apoligize if this has already been posted. It's kind of hard to check from my phone. P.S.: Don't watch this within earshot of an Echo! [youtube.com]uvKwSTJ2LlE[/youtube]

03-28-2016, 12:59 PM	#47
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I apoligize if this has already been posted. It's kind of hard to check from my phone. P.S.: Don't watch this within earshot of an Echo!

05-04-2016, 10:18 PM	#54
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	After hearing what Synergi and copyrite said about the improvement in TTS since the K3, I'll have to give it a second look. I well remember TTS on the Kindle Keyboard back in the day, and it was somewhat lackluster.

05-04-2016, 10:33 PM	#55
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,365 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Not Echo-related, but I went searching around in my new Fire tablet to see if I had an option for TTS because of these posts--which I do--so I just want to say thanks!

05-04-2016, 10:45 PM	#56
copyrite Wizard Posts: 1,821 Karma: 4985051 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Maryland Device: ...lots! ;) mostly reading on a Kindle Voyage	TTS isn't for everyone, but I used it on the Kindle Keyboard before I finally broke down and got a Audible subscription, and just about anything would sound better than the KK's TTS! It took me a while to get used to the inflection and nuances in Audible's narrators voices because I was so used to the flat synthetic voice of the TTS.

05-04-2016, 11:09 PM	#57
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I just tried the the Alexa-powered TTS. It is indeed far better than it ever was on the old KK. Not perfect — there were a couple of instances of unnatural use of emphasis in the short science essay I listened to — and one major flaw: Alexa went straight from the final sentence of that essay to the next essay in the book with no pause. Had I not known the title of the next essay, I would have assumed the title was a continuation of the previous essay. She needs to learn how to pause between chapters and to differentiate chapter titles from the rest of the text. Overall, however, the flow was much more natural, and the phrasing was, with the minor blips I noted, surprisingly good. I could see using this feature as an alternative way to access a work of fiction.

05-06-2016, 02:39 PM	#59
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,009 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	My brother can't read any longer, well, long enough to read a novel, so the TTS has been great. He uses it both on the Echo Dot (which I made him buy) and on his cheapo $49 Fire. It does take a little getting used to, but after awhile, you think nothing of it. But I DO recommend trying different voices - I like to switch between British and American voices depending on the novel. Yes, I have now abandoned KK's TTS unless I'm at an appointment and just can't read any more. Then in goes the headphones and on goes the TTS. I'll use the KK as my take-a-long until it dies.

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