SP0256

About like the early 1980's low-cost voice technology it is. If you've ever heard a really hard to understand computer voice from some 1980's movie (or 1970's, for that matter), it sounds like that.

Jon

I think I might have a wav file of some speech from that chip. I have two of them, and the text to phoneme chip that goes with it. Lemme look for the wav file....

-tom

Check this out:

-tom

It sounds like Stephen Hawking on a good day.

Cheers!

Chip Shults My robotics, space and CGI web page -

"Hello Commander"?

Some folks will pay good money for that...a guy on the Web sells those for something like $20 each. They haven't been made in at least 15 years. Most on the market were surplus that Radio Shack bought up in the mid 80s. See:

The speech from them is something you get used to, but like the others said, it can be hard to understand at times. The chips can be cantakerous beasts, and require an odd-ball crystal (you can use a slower or faster one but the chip might lock up).

(By the way, robotic speech in most movies, even today, are created with a vocoder, not one of these chips.)

Curiously enough, though, the SPO256 was one of the first "PIC" chips ever made. General Instruments created the underlying technology of the PIC, then produced several custom chips from it, including this one and a serial/parallel I/O. Later MicroChip bought GI and the PIC technology, but chips like the SPO were dropped.

A better-sounding and easier to use replacement to the SPO256 is coming out within a month. So these old SPO's will become relics soon.

-- Gordon Robots for Less at Budget Robotics:

Do tell more!

Simon

: A better-sounding and easier to use replacement to the SPO256 is coming : out within a month. So these old SPO's will become relics soon.

Any details, or will an announcement be made here ?

To all:

Though I'm not under an official NDA, I imagine the folks putting this out don't want me to blab too much, so for now I'll have to hold my tongue. I'm as eager as anyone to see this. I've been talking to this developer about this product for some four years, and I'm jazzed it's almost ready.

But I think I can say this (all are my understanding from various phone calls, so "subject to change without notice," and all that...):

o It's pin-compatible with the SPO256 (handy in that it will fit boards for it) o From the sound samples I've heard, it has better sound quality than the SPO256 o It does not require a crystal -- just an amp and speaker o It is MCU-agnostic...will work with anything o It sports a one-wire serial interface o It'll be priced agressively, less than anything currently out in production

Trust me, the *minute* I can say more I will!

-- Gordon Robots for Less at Budget Robotics:

I don't suppose they'd also be building a replacement for the CTS 256? That one's even harder to get hold of, and if I can't get one, I'll have to substitute a manually programmed microcontroller and eprom to act as a text converter, which aint gonna be easy to make.

Tom

These chips are used often in arcade games. And are getting very hard to find for repairs of such. Can you point me to a link about this new chip?

David

I have SP0256-AL2's and CTS256's at

Ken

I just started looking at newsgroups again after almost a year and started from the oldest messages in this group first and came aross this message. I sorted by author and didn't see any later messages from Gordon about this. Anyways, is this new chip out yet? Any info would be greatly appreciated! TIA!!!

-C

The latest I have from the developer is a Web page, and I'm not sure it's "public" yet. I'll ask him. He's not always quick to respond to his e-mail.

The Web page has some examples showing off the voice as well as sound effects functionality and DTMF tone generation, as well as a one-page datasheet with pinout. It is shown as an 18-pin DIP.

Sorry for the premature announcement. I was under the impression it would come out sooner than it did. I *promise* a non-spam announcement when it's official. (BTW, I have no connection with this product, its developer, or the distributor, though I have worked with them before.)

-- Gordon Author: Constructing Robot Bases (Forthcoming) Robot Builder's Sourcebook, Robot Builder's Bonanza

appreciated!

Awesome, thank you very much! Looking forward for any update. If you haven't already, could you express the interest you've seen for these chips to the developer? I know I will be buying at least a few and I'm sure many others here will also want some. :)

-C

Hi,

For speech synthesis, also take a look at this excellent device:

You can still get the original chip; go to