Savetz Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I got my ITalk II voice synthesis box working today and made a youtube video of its demo running. There doesn't seem to be much info out there about this puppy. If anyone has a manual or scan of one, please let me know. It was made by a company called RealTime Electronics in Mesa, AZ. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ripdubski Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) Interesting but no inflection. SAM did a better job of that. My son kept asking if I was listening to the local TV stations automated weather. So i explained what it was and how it worked, then got the "oh neat" from him. Cool tech none the less. Thumbs up! Edited September 7, 2014 by Ripdubski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 This no doubt uses the Votrax sound chip used in the Gorf arcade cabinet. I agree - the inflection is shit, SAM is all software which is cool. I much prefer my AtariVox, which uses the SpeakJet chip, the successor to the chip used in the Speak'n'Spell. It can do sound effects, and has enough control over inflection that it can be made to sing in different voices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hunmanik Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Nice! I had guessed it had never shipped, but now we know they exist. Any chance of opening it up to see what the synthesis chip is? Competing products used either the Votrax SC-01-A (Votrax Type n Talk, Alien Group Voice Box and Voice Box II) or the Texas Instruments TMS5220 (SEC Echo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Thanks for posting the video Kevin, I look forward to seeing the others (eventually). I remember seeing these things in Analog and Antic and thought about buying one but never pulled the trigger. The Covox Voice Master is the one that I remember best... I guess that's the problem with these things... what are they good for in practical terms? It's really more of a tech demo than something useful. I guess the same can be said for SAM. I have a friend who dug out some old PC based Covox stuff (Speech thing, Disney SoundSource) from a few years later... I'm assuming that's what the original Covox evolved into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 I opened it up. It's the SC-01-A. There are four other chips. A pot for volume adjust, and another for tone adjust. Board says ITALK II REV B. I also noticed this etched on the case, handwritten (probably in the mold): 10210046. There's an RCA jack. Haven't tested that. Alternate audio output, I guess. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) Wow, I just got off the phone with the guy who created the ITalk II. We recorded a short interview for the podcast. (He may have a manual stashed away somewhere.) He said they built about 30 of them, and sold most of them, keeping a couple for themselves. The company was primarily semiconductor stuff then biomedical, and only went out of business a couple of years ago. Edited September 7, 2014 by Savetz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Wow talk about rare... now there is the reason not many have heard of this item! So now that we know its the same chip as Gorf, someone needs to build a version of Gorf to use it. of course there are probably only a couple of these left in the wild... so that probably isn't really worth it. But it would be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 This might be useful. Votrax SC-01.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 3 cables is kinda crazy. The SIO connection gets you audio through the monitor and the 2 joystick connections makes it easier to send commands over, but what an octopus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 3 cables is kinda crazy. The SIO connection gets you audio through the monitor and the 2 joystick connections makes it easier to send commands over, but what an octopus! No doubt - if they were already using SIO, why the heck would they use joystick cables for data? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 No doubt - if they were already using SIO, why the heck would they use joystick cables for data? Probably because PIA bit-banging in BASIC is pretty much the easiest thing you can do and you'd hear some SIO noise due to the leaky nature of SIO cables. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup8pdct Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 No doubt - if they were already using SIO, why the heck would they use joystick cables for data? Likely to save a chip or 2 to cut down on costs and for better direct control of the chip and easier to program from basic etc. James 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Thanks - both answers make sense. I have never really interfaced with much hardware before, so was curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Black nail varnish....Totally un Atarian Goths were much later... As for the voice box, limited as hardware, SAM was much better under pure software.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 it's dark blue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 it's dark blue. Very glam. Rock on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I seem to recall ANALOG running an article on how to build your own speech synthesizer - a quick google shows #29 had an article titles "Cheep Talk". Wonder if that was the inspiration... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low.blow Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 I seem to recall ANALOG running an article on how to build your own speech synthesizer - a quick google shows #29 had an article titles "Cheep Talk". Wonder if that was the inspiration... Could be, although the Analog "cheep talk" calls for an SP0256-AL2 speech synthesizer chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Could be, although the Analog "cheep talk" calls for an SP0256-AL2 speech synthesizer chip. That's what my AtariVox has - it's a very capable and easy to program chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low.blow Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 (edited) That's what my AtariVox has - it's a very capable and easy to program chip.I have never heard what that chip sounds like, but I picked up an nos one from eBay a while ago so that I can build a "cheep talk". Still need the oscillator and other components though... I will have to look up atarivox on YouTube and check it out. Edited September 10, 2014 by low.blow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenjennings Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I'll ditto. The SP0256-AL2 has much better pronunciation than the SC-01 once you've worked out the right phonemes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hunmanik Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I believe power comes from the Atari, rather than an external power supply. I don't know how you'd do it exactly, but is there any way of determining whether power is drawn from the joystick ports, or from SIO? If it's SIO, it could be pin 10, or the longshot, the +12V on pin 12. I don't think I've heard of anything that used the +12V on SIO pin 12 on the 400/800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 I believe power comes from the Atari, rather than an external power supply. I don't know how you'd do it exactly, but is there any way of determining whether power is drawn from the joystick ports, or from SIO? If it's SIO, it could be pin 10, or the longshot, the +12V on pin 12. I don't think I've heard of anything that used the +12V on SIO pin 12 on the 400/800. Power on the ITalk II comes from the joystick port(s). (I don't know which one.) The LED lights when the joysticks are plugged in, even without SIO connected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 The Covox Voice Master is the one that I remember best... Aaaand I just got my VoiceMaster working and made a YouTube video demonstrating it. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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