If you're using Yosemite and you're noticing Alex skipping or stuttering, I don't think that is an Alex problem. Rather, I think it is something to do with Yosemite, although it doesn't appear on everybody's machine. It also happens with vocalizer voices. I use the Russian ones, and it happens there, just like it does with Alex. I couldn't stand using Fred, skip or not. Just not ready to go back that far in time. I started with Alex and snow leopard. And I thought he was really good there. Then there were some steps backwards and lion and mountain lion. Now, if it wasn't for this voice issue in Yosemite, I would say he is back to his old self. Mary
Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 8, 2015, at 6:56 PM, Devin Prater <[email protected]> wrote: > > The only thing I don't like is that Alex seems to studder and skip a little > on the mac, but he doesn't do that on the iPhone. So I use Fred on the mac > because of that. > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Feb 8, 2015, at 7:59 PM, Jessica Moss <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> What words did you find he ran together? I use him as my default all the >> time, and only thing I've found that sounds really weird, is when you try to >> log in anywhere and go to the usual "remember me," checkbox, when he speaks >> the "remember me," he sounds like he either has his teeth clenched, or has >> something in his mouth, which always makes me cringe, and I've always >> thought it really weird that he sounds like that. >>> On Feb 8, 2015, at 7:41 PM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi all, >>> First, yes, this is about a speech synthesizer, and will thus be very >>> subjective. I wanted to see, though, if anyone else might have come to the >>> same conclusion I have. >>> >>> I got a Mac in the days of Lion, and quickly switched to the Vocalizer >>> voices (Serena or Lee, mostly). When we got new ones in Mavericks, I >>> favored Ava, and she is still among the best voices I know of, except a >>> couple from Ivona. In testing things for Yosemite, I kept switching from >>> Ava to Alex, just to see if any problems were being caused by the use of >>> Nuance voices. I accidentally made a startling discovery: Alex used to be >>> pretty bad a few years ago, but now, he's quite good. I've always liked the >>> breathing thing, but Alex would constantly run words together, mispronounce >>> syllables, and have other small problems that made him hard to understand, >>> especially at higher speeds. The more I use him in Yosemite, though, the >>> more I look for reasons to switch back to Ava, but the more those reasons >>> allude me. Ava misses the period after certain words, like "app", Alex >>> doesn't; Ava says "capital" before uppercase letters, although that setting >>> is disabled, and Alex doesn't; VoiceOver has delays when opening the VO >>> Utility or bringing up VO menus while using Nuance voices, but with Alex, I >>> find no such delays; and more. >>> >>> So, is it just me, or has Alex gotten way better? I don't mean "better" in >>> that VoiceOver runs faster while using Alex, although it certainly does. I >>> mean "better" in that, compared to a few years ago, he's far clearer when >>> speaking and makes far fewer mistakes. Maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe >>> I'm the only one to notice, since the change was likely gradual and thus >>> invisible to those who have used Alex all along. Either way, I'm interested >>> in hearing your thoughts, and I'm more eager than ever to obtain a 64-bit >>> iPhone so I can start using Alex there as well. My only complaint about >>> Alex is that he doesn't speed up very well - sure, he can go crazy fast, >>> but I find I miss things at more than 70% speaking rate. Anyway, what do >>> you all think? If you haven't used Alex in a long time, give him another >>> chance. If you use him all the time, have you noticed anything? >>> >>> -- >>> Have a great day, >>> Alex Hall >>> [email protected] >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
