Favorite Mac voices?

Category: Geeks r Us

Post 1 by Voyager (I just keep on posting!) on Wednesday, 10-Jun-2015 19:01:28

Which voices do y'all like best, and why? Also, which ones do you think are more understandable at high speeds? It would be nice if there were an equivalent of eloquence for the Mac.

Post 2 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 11-Jun-2015 9:22:45

Alex is hands down the best!

Post 3 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Thursday, 11-Jun-2015 16:49:16

I have not used any of the others. I merely use the Mac as its default voice speeded up some.

Post 4 by CallMeAl (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 11-Jun-2015 17:32:41

I guess i'd say Alex. I like Alex, but it's not perfect. It is the best thing out there though as far as I know. My biggest gripe with it is at higher rates, it sometimes seems to mush syllables together, and I have to switch to a scansoft voice to understand exactly what it was I just heard. LOL.

Post 5 by Voyager (I just keep on posting!) on Thursday, 11-Jun-2015 18:11:20

I agree. When Alex is sped up too much he sounds a bit like the legal disclaimers at the end of car ads. He's just too humanoid to comfortably talk that fast.

Post 6 by WomanOfWisdom (Generic Zoner) on Wednesday, 24-Jun-2015 10:32:21

Personally, I like Samantha. I have her on my iDevices and so I put her on my
mac as well. I haven't tried her at higher speeds, though. Speaking of that,
how do you speed up the voice on the Mac? I would like to speed mine up just
a bit.

Post 7 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Wednesday, 24-Jun-2015 10:53:46

Hold down the voiceover keys which are control-option and press the right or left arrows until you hear rate. Then while still holding down those keys press up and down arrows to change the rate.

Post 8 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Wednesday, 24-Jun-2015 17:08:11

How do you get Samantha on the Mac? I'd probably like that.

Post 9 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Wednesday, 24-Jun-2015 17:20:28

Ah found it on 9to5Mac website:
Open System Preferences> Speech> Text to Speech>System Voice> Customize> and select Samantha to download.

Post 10 by Dana (Veteran Zoner) on Thursday, 25-Jun-2015 20:42:45

I use Samantha as well. I can speed her up and she does not distort. I use her on my phone as well at 100 percent.
alex sounds good but, I can't get him fast enough.
I can use Daniel fast as well and, I will sometimes change to him just for a change.
I tried out several others but, Samantha and Daniel are who I always come back to. some of the others, like Sharon, for example, are just way to breathy for me.