I’ve learned Microsoft Word has a decent text-to-speech plugin using the free voices available in Windows 10 - see under “Review -> Read Aloud” in the tool ribbon.
I use this for some of my foreign language articles as it helps me set a pace reading something which I mostly understand but may trudge through very slowly on my own motivation. Current process is open my source folder in Obsidian (where many articles are saved to read later), copy editor text, paste in Word, click “Read Aloud”, and then switch back to Obsidian afterwords to write down any notes.
I’d prefer if I could have a Read Aloud command in Obsidian that would read from a given note/pane, using available system voices, while I took notes (or, even added highlights in the same note) in another pane.
Not sure if this is feasible at all using MS built in and downloadable voice packs, or if open source options are available, but this would be an incredibly useful plugin for language learners/x-as-second-language readers that are taking notes in Obsidian.
FYI, Pleco (for Chinese) does an incredible job of this for $9.99 on Android, and using voices that are far better than those built into Windows 10 or by default on Android:
I’m using MS text to speech for free, daily…
These options are are also free:
Edit: to be clear, I’m not suggesting someone develop their own TTS engine just for Obsidian. I’m wondering if the one built into MS Windows 10 could be utilized, as it is in other apps.
In general, the Speech API is a freely redistributable component which can be shipped with any Windows application that wishes to use speech technology. Many versions (although not all) of the speech recognition and synthesis engines are also freely redistributable.
As far as I know there is a Text-to-Speech interface in Windows 10 which is free for use… I thought I saw something in the accessability services (narrator) so you can mark a text and press a key combo (regardless where you are in Windows) and Windows “reads” the marked text… like mentioned here (https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-use-windows-10s-narrator-to-read-your-screen-aloud)…
I found the MS Word Read Aloud function after having played around with Narrator a bit - I find Narrator a lot more finnicky. For example, if I’m having it read in one window but typing notes in another, it often switches focuses to read what is in the active window. Narrator is apparently designed for users with access issues (disabilities), not language learners and note takers, so that function doesn’t play so well with note taking.
I use T2S with Google Speech Services enabled. It’s free, but it seems like there should be a way to incorporate that in Obsidian and still be free, although I don’t know how. But using my Windows 11 machine (which runs Android Apps) I can hear it in real time, and also click and edit what I don’t want without having to switch views or anything. I typically copy and paste from Obsidian, listen through the material and edit, and then paste it back into Obsidian. It would be better though if Obsidian could use it direct on Windows and in the App.
I have use both Microsoft and Google TTS plugins but the voice library is very narrow and sounds heavily mechanical. For these reasons I switched to an external AI voice software that proivdes great text to speech online services and in over 40 languages with much better accuracy. this AI has a voice library of over 250 voices and multiple accents and compelled me to make the switch