DECtalk Archive

Summary

DECtalk Archive Contents What is DECtalk DECtalk is a speech synthesizer, originally released as a hardware module in 1984 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). DECtalk's origins The DECtalk technology is based on the work of Dennis Klatt, who was a pioneer in speech synthesis throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He developed the phoneme-to-speech part of a system known as MITalk, a project developed at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), using recordings of his own voice to build a functioning voice model, later to be known as Perfect Paul. Perfect Paul would end up being a model emulating how Klatt talked in his younger days. In 1982, Klatt developed his own speech system nown as Klattalk, which added other voices to give a much wider selection, most of which were modelled after his family. This included Beautiful Betty, modelled after Klatt's wife, and a child voice, Kit the Kid, modelled after his daughter. In 1983, DEC bought an exclusive license to Klattalk to use it in their own products, the first of which was released in 1984 under the name "DECtalk". DECtalk editions Digital Equipment Corporation and others (1984-2000) When DEC licensed the system and released it as DECtalk, they continued to collaborate with Klatt on the development, until his dead in 1988, whereafter DEC continued development until the late 90s, both as hardware, and later software products. Hardware products included, but were not limited to: DECtalk DTC-01: This was the original 1984 model, which was a standalone unit, mainly used in call centers to make and receive calls. At $4000, it was way to expensive to be used for much else. It originally used DECtalk version 1.8, and was later upgraded to version 2.0, which added two new voices, Doctor Dennis and Whispering Wendy. The DECtalk DTC-01 has now been made available as a MAME emulator, which can be used to type in text and have it read by either DECtalk 1.8 or 2.0. Listen to a sample of DECtalk DTC-01 running DECtalk version 1....