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Date Posted: 14:02:17 01/11/26 Sun
Author: FACE_STYLE_BOOK
Author Host/IP: 185.141.119.91
Subject: Re: I finished my nap!
In reply to: AusNick 's message, "I finished my nap!" on 12:22:24 01/11/26 Sun

Glad to hear that you're feeling better! I am lucky to have never been a crime victim, or suffered those kind of injuries, but - in the words of our former President - I feel your pain.

I've been a lurker on the forum and collected all of your incredible compilations. Your dedication to this "hobby" is truly amazing, irreplaceable, and much appreciated. I noticed earlier that you were commenting on attempts to create audiobook files worth listening to. I might be able to help.

I don't have the time to read all this material, so I tried a number of AI text to speech services. Fortunately, I found a great way to create high quality files - not perfect, mind you, but wonderfully entertaining. Over the past two years I've converted a lot of material - hundreds of hours worth.

The technique is simple. I use the ReadAloud feature of the Microsoft Edge browser by dragging an edited PDF into the window. I record the audio on my PC with Audacity. There are many voices to choose from, and I've found the AVA female voice to be very good, with remarkable tone and pronunciation. Because the files are read by a relatable, almost sexy female voice, it makes the dialogue much more impactful. Another good voice is the English Sonia. There are Australian voices, as well, but they didn't interest me as an American.

The AI will sometimes stall on certain characters. One big example is the & symbol, which unfortunately appears in so many stories for the Benson and Hedges brand! The character needs to be removed and replaced for every instance. Asterisks, underlines, dashes are other problems.

If you or others are interested, perhaps I can arrange to provide a download link so you can hear a sample.

Happy 2026!

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