Balabolka

[AllanH]

From SnapFiles:

"Balabolka is a Text-To-Speech (TTS) program that can use any voices
installed on your system (most PCs have at least one Microsoft voice
pre-installed). The program can read text from a variety of document
types, including Office formats, PDF, text files, web pages and many
others. The program can also read any text copies to the clipboard or
you can type the text to be read directly into the editor window.

In addition to reading the text aloud, Balabolka can also export the
text recording to WAV, MP3, MP4, OGG or WMA file. The synchronized text
can be saved in external LRC files as part of the MP3 tags, which can be
displayed (like lyrics) on your portable music player.

Balabolka offers extensive customization options, you can adjust voice
parameters and articulation, create custom pronunciation rules and a
variety of other settings. Additional features include spell checking,
batch conversions, file splitting, ID3 tag editing and more."

Home Page
http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

Updated to Version 2.15.0.848

Changelog
http://www.cross-plus-a.com/changelog.txt

[John C.]

Allan, do you know of any program which makes it easy to install
additional voices into Windows? From what I've read, this process is a
pain in the arse in general.

--
John C. BS206. No ad, CD, cripple, demo, nag, pay, pirated, share, spy,
time-limited, trial or web wares for me please. I filter anything posted
through Google Groups (source of the vast majority of spam posted here),
cross-posted messages (those sent to more than one newsgroup at a time)
and all posts from several trolls (eg. "Bucky Breeder"). I recommend you
do likewise in all three cases.

[AllanH]

No, I'm not aware of any. Hopefully, someone else can help.

[John C.]

Well, thanks anyway. Just found this page:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/appendix-a-supported-languages-and-voices-4486e345-7730-53da-fcfe-55cc64300f01#WindowsVersion=Windows_10

but that doesn't help me with W7 of course.

I also found this discussion:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-you-install-additional-voices-for-narrator/eec5d7fc-f5b9-4b4f-9ebd-8bb65a1f99ee

which offers no hope.

[Bill Day]

On Sun, 28 May 2023 12:19:38 -0500, AllanH <nos...@unokix.invalid>
wrote:

I tried several, and found Balabolka to be the easiest...with the best
set of alternate voices.

[John C.]

Bill, are those voices proprietary to Balabolka or does the program
install those voices so that they can be used by Windows in general?

I'm using W7 by the way.

TIA.

[John C.]

Nevermind. From https://www.snapfiles.com/get/balabolka.html comes the
following description:

"Balabolka is a Text-To-Speech (TTS) program that can use any voices
installed on your system (most PCs have at least one Microsoft voice

pre-installed)." which seems to imply that the program doesn't come with
any voices.

Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

[AllanH]

On 6/2/2023 12:12 PM, John C. wrote:

> Nevermind. From https://www.snapfiles.com/get/balabolka.html comes the
> following description:
>
> "Balabolka is a Text-To-Speech (TTS) program that can use any voices
> installed on your system (most PCs have at least one Microsoft voice
> pre-installed)." which seems to imply that the program doesn't come with
> any voices.
>
> Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
> at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

The page did work for me but not as a secure link.
Vivaldi tells me it uses an unsupported protocol if you try it as https:
Do your Firefox settings only allow secure connections?

[John C.]

In "Settings", "Privacy & Security" at the bottom under "HTTPS-Only
Mode", I have "Enable HTTPS-Only Mode in all windows" checked. I Just
unchecked it and tried to load the website again. Here (copied and
pasted) is what I get:
___________________________________________________________________________

Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site.

We can’t connect to the server at www.cross-plus-a.com.

If you entered the right address, you can:

Try again later
Check your network connection
Check that Firefox has permission to access the web (you might be
connected but behind a firewall)
___________________________________________________________________________

Usually what happens is that Firefox tells me about the HTTPS thing but
allows the option to proceed anyway.

The only other browser I have installed on this W7 computer is IE, and
it tells me:
____________________________________________________________________________

This page can’t be displayed

•Make sure the web address http://cross-plus-a.com is correct.
•Look for the page with your search engine.
•Refresh the page in a few minutes.

Fix connection problems
____________________________________________________________________________

Maybe the website only works during certain hours of the day (never seen
that before though.) I tend to do my surfing during the wee hours of the
morning.

[John C.]

The website is no longer showing up in DuckDuckGo, Google or Biing
searches. The developer may have quit and shut down the website.

[AllanH]

On 6/3/2023 6:50 AM, John C. wrote:

> ___________________________________________________________________________
>
> Usually what happens is that Firefox tells me about the HTTPS thing but
> allows the option to proceed anyway.
>
> The only other browser I have installed on this W7 computer is IE, and
> it tells me:
> ____________________________________________________________________________
>
> This page can’t be displayed
>
> •Make sure the web address http://cross-plus-a.com is correct.
> •Look for the page with your search engine.
> •Refresh the page in a few minutes.
>
> Fix connection problems
> ____________________________________________________________________________
>
> Maybe the website only works during certain hours of the day (never seen
> that before though.) I tend to do my surfing during the wee hours of the
> morning.

I just tried again about 15 minutes ago.
On my W10 computer, here is a screenshot of the Website in IE.
https://imgur.com/a/ah0YE4z

There must be an issue with your Internet settings in some way.

[D]

On Sat, 3 Jun 2023 06:03:17 -0700, "John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>John C. wrote:
>> AllanH wrote:

snip
>> web address http://cross-plus-a.com

>The website is no longer showing up in DuckDuckGo, Google or Biing
>searches. The developer may have quit and shut down the website.

using only Palemoon 32.2.0, search tops the list:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cross-plus-a.com
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cross-plus-a.com%2Fbalabolka.htm

ditto for Palemoon opening these links:
http://cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
http://cross-plus-a.com/download.htm
http://cross-plus-a.com/crossa.zip

(all these links also open normally in Tor Browser 12.0.6)

I haven't used text-to-speech programs since Windows 95, but:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=windows+text+to+speech+voices+free
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=windows+text+to+speech+voices+open+source

[wasbit]

On 02/06/2023 18:12, John C. wrote:
> snip <

>
> Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
> at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
>

Link works fine here with Pale Moon 32.2/Windows 8.1

Regards
wasbit

[John C.]

Huh. I don't know, it's still doing it to me. I haven't seen a lot of
those kinds of messages. What browser are you using, Allan?

[John C.]

wasbit wrote:
> John C. wrote:
>> snip <
>>
>> Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
>> at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
>
> Link works fine here with Pale Moon 32.2/Windows 8.1

Thanks, Wasbit. Maybe I'll contact my ISP about the problem tomorrow.

[AllanH]

On 6/4/2023 7:08 AM, John C. wrote:
> AllanH wrote:
>> On 6/3/2023 6:50 AM, John C. wrote:
>>
>>> ___________________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> Usually what happens is that Firefox tells me about the HTTPS thing but
>>> allows the option to proceed anyway.
>>>
>>> The only other browser I have installed on this W7 computer is IE, and
>>> it tells me:
>>> ____________________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> This page can’t be displayed
>>>
>>> •Make sure the web address http://cross-plus-a.com is correct.
>>> •Look for the page with your search engine.
>>> •Refresh the page in a few minutes.
>>>
>>> Fix connection problems
>>> ____________________________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> Maybe the website only works during certain hours of the day (never seen
>>> that before though.) I tend to do my surfing during the wee hours of the
>>> morning.
>>
>> I just tried again about 15 minutes ago.
>> On my W10 computer, here is a screenshot of the Website in IE.
>> https://imgur.com/a/ah0YE4z
>>
>> There must be an issue with your Internet settings in some way.
>
> Huh. I don't know, it's still doing it to me. I haven't seen a lot of
> those kinds of messages. What browser are you using, Allan?

My default Browser is Vivaldi.
The only problem is if I use the secure link. I get the message:

"Unsupported protocol
The client and server don't support a common SSL protocol version or
cipher suite."

Without the secure link, Vivaldi displays the Website just fine.

[John C.]

Just tried that. No difference in the results. I even disabled
https-only mode before I did it.

My guess is that it's a DNS issue.

[wasbit]

Update:
Pale Moon opens www.cross-plus-a.com but with a circle of doom (must
look up the technical name for that) in the tab which eventually goes away.
http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm - opens instantly.

Copy & pasting the link into Firefox portable (v113.0.1) results in
'Secure site not available' but the 'Continue to HTTP site' button opens
the page.

The above also applies with Librewolf

Brave (v1.47.186) opens the link but with a 'Not Secure' notification on
the tab.

--
Regards
wasbit

[John C.]

Okay, I was able to get to an archived version of the website:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230530160710/http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

The download links work.

From that archived site comes the following description of the program:
________________________________________________________________________
Balabolka is a Text-To-Speech (TTS) program. All computer voices
installed on your system are available to Balabolka. The on-screen text
can be saved as an audio file. The program can read the clipboard
content, extract text from documents, customize font and background
colour, control reading from the system tray or by the global hotkeys.
Balabolka supports text file formats: AZW, AZW3, CHM, DjVu, DOC, DOCX,
EML, EPUB, FB2, FB3, HTML, LIT, MD, MOBI, ODP, ODS, ODT, PDB, PRC, PDF,
PPT, PPTX, RTF, TCR, WPD, XLS, XLSX.
Balabolka

The program uses various versions of Microsoft Speech API (SAPI); it
allows to alter a voice's parameters, including rate and pitch. The user
can apply a special substitution list to improve the quality of the
voice's articulation. This feature is useful when you want to change the
spelling of words. The rules for the pronunciation correction use the
syntax of regular expressions.

Balabolka can save the synchronized text in external LRC files or in MP3
tags inside the audio files. When an audio file is played with players
on a computer or on modern digital audio players, the text is displayed
synchronously (at the same way, as lyrics for songs).
________________________________________________________________________

Looks like it has some features I would like. That is, if W7 actually
came with more voices other than only one, single female voice
available. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

I just noticed on the Balabolka website if one scrolls down to where it
says "Microsoft Speech Platform", there are 28 runtime language links
listed -all of which are have female names. A little bit of reverse
sexism here from M$ IMO.

Check out this discussion about the problem and the canned M$ non-reply
from "Ravinath P":

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-you-install-additional-voices-for-narrator/eec5d7fc-f5b9-4b4f-9ebd-8bb65a1f99ee

Within that discussion, I found a link to this set of complex
instructions for "Changing Windows Narrator's Voice":

https://www.webbie.org.uk/changingNarratorToUseADifferentSAPI5Voice.htm

and this M$ page, where one can supposedly download additional free
voices from the megacorp:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10121

I've never been able to make any of it work, however.

[John C.]

I've tried a couple of times now to open the unsecure version of the
link, but no joy. And of course, I've disabled the https-only mode in my
browser.

Guess I could try (God forbid) connecting my W10 laptop to the internet
and seeing if that works.

[John C.]

Wasbit, can you do me a favor and try doing a Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo
search for the Balabolka website and see if the results contain a link
to it? When I do that search, nothing comes up in the results.

TIA.

[Shadow]

On Wed, 7 Jun 2023 05:07:57 -0700, "John C." <r9j...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>wasbit wrote:
>> On 04/06/2023 00:45, wasbit wrote:
>>> On 02/06/2023 18:12, John C. wrote:
>>>> snip <
>>>>
>>>> Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
>>>> at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
>>>>
>>>
>>> Link works fine here with Pale Moon 32.2/Windows 8.1
>>>
>>
>> Update:
>> Pale Moon opens www.cross-plus-a.com but with a circle of doom (must
>> look up the technical name for that) in the tab which eventually goes away.
>> http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm - opens instantly.
>>
>> Copy & pasting the link into Firefox portable (v113.0.1) results in
>> 'Secure site not available' but the 'Continue to HTTP site' button opens
>> the page.
>>
>> The above also applies with Librewolf
>>
>> Brave (v1.47.186) opens the link but with a 'Not Secure' notification on
>> the tab.
>
>Wasbit, can you do me a favor and try doing a Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo
>search for the Balabolka website and see if the results contain a link
>to it? When I do that search, nothing comes up in the results.
>

It appears in all of them as the first hit. Bing even
autocompletes the name after entering 5 letters (Bloody scripting).

Curious, there is no English Wiki page, but there is one in
Spanish

<https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balabolka>

For a program that is used by millions of people, kinda
strange.
[]'s


--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012
Google Fuchsia - 2021

[John C.]

Now get this: the website now comes up for me and is also in my search
results.

Must have been a cosmic ray.

[wasbit]

On 07/06/2023 13:07, John C. wrote:
> wasbit wrote:
>> On 04/06/2023 00:45, wasbit wrote:
>>> On 02/06/2023 18:12, John C. wrote:
>>>> snip <
>>>>
>>>> Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
>>>> at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
>>>>
>>>
>>> Link works fine here with Pale Moon 32.2/Windows 8.1
>>>
>>
>> Update:
>> Pale Moon opens www.cross-plus-a.com but with a circle of doom (must
>> look up the technical name for that) in the tab which eventually goes away.
>> http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm - opens instantly.
>>
>> Copy & pasting the link into Firefox portable (v113.0.1) results in
>> 'Secure site not available' but the 'Continue to HTTP site' button opens
>> the page.
>>
>> The above also applies with Librewolf
>>
>> Brave (v1.47.186) opens the link but with a 'Not Secure' notification on
>> the tab.
>
> Wasbit, can you do me a favor and try doing a Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo
> search for the Balabolka website and see if the results contain a link
> to it? When I do that search, nothing comes up in the results.
>
> TIA.
>

Screenshot Jpeg of search result uploaded to Imgbb
- https://ibb.co/Gd3s1pw

--
Regards wabit

[AllanH]

John,

Within that same discussion, it looks like the person with the next to
the last reply on Page 3 has a possible solution.
I thought it would be worth a try, if you haven't noticed it before now.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-you-install-additional-voices-for-narrator/eec5d7fc-f5b9-4b4f-9ebd-8bb65a1f99ee?page=3

[John C.]

AllanH wrote:
> John C. wrote:
>>
>> Okay, I was able to get to an archived version of the website:
>>
>> https://web.archive.org/web/20230530160710/http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
>>
>> The download links work.

Whoops. I spoke too soon. The download links didn't work for me.

>>(snip)

>> Looks like it has some features I would like. That is, if W7 actually
>> came with more voices other than only one, single female voice
>> available. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
>>
>> I just noticed on the Balabolka website if one scrolls down to where it
>> says "Microsoft Speech Platform", there are 28 runtime language links
>> listed -all of which are have female names. A little bit of reverse
>> sexism here from M$ IMO.
>>
>> Check out this discussion about the problem and the canned M$ non-reply
>> from "Ravinath P":
>>
>> https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-you-install-additional-voices-for-narrator/eec5d7fc-f5b9-4b4f-9ebd-8bb65a1f99ee
>>
>> Within that discussion, I found a link to this set of complex
>> instructions for "Changing Windows Narrator's Voice":
>>
>> https://www.webbie.org.uk/changingNarratorToUseADifferentSAPI5Voice.htm

But changing the voice isn't the same as adding voices.

>> and this M$ page, where one can supposedly download additional free
>> voices from the megacorp:
>>
>> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10121

Turns out that you can't download additional voices from that page. You
can only download the Microsoft Speech SDK 5.1, which AFAIK has no
additional voices. Windows 7 comes with Microsoft Speech API version 5.4
anyway.

> John,
>
> Within that same discussion, it looks like the person with the next to
> the last reply on Page 3 has a possible solution.
> I thought it would be worth a try, if you haven't noticed it before now.
>
> https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-you-install-additional-voices-for-narrator/eec5d7fc-f5b9-4b4f-9ebd-8bb65a1f99ee?page=3

Thanks Allan. However the page says this: "***Post moved by the
moderator to the appropriate forum category.***" and doesn't provide a
link to it.

Further down, Palle Johnson claims to provide a solution, and in his
post he states that you can obtain additional voices here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27224

but there "are 6 English (all female)". I have no interest in listening
to a woman dictate things to me. I get enough of that IRL.

[John C.]

wasbit wrote:
> John C. wrote:
>> wasbit wrote:

>>> wasbit wrote:
>>>> John C. wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> snip <
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, Firefox is unable to find the server for the program's home page
>>>>> at: http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
>>>>
>>>> Link works fine here with Pale Moon 32.2/Windows 8.1
>>>
>>> Update:
>>> Pale Moon opens www.cross-plus-a.com but with a circle of doom (must
>>> look up the technical name for that) in the tab which eventually goes
>>> away.
>>> http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm - opens instantly.
>>>
>>> Copy & pasting the link into Firefox portable (v113.0.1) results in
>>> 'Secure site not available' but the 'Continue to HTTP site' button opens
>>> the page.
>>>
>>> The above also applies with Librewolf
>>>
>>> Brave (v1.47.186) opens the link but with a 'Not Secure' notification on
>>> the tab.
>>
>> Wasbit, can you do me a favor and try doing a Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo
>> search for the Balabolka website and see if the results contain a link
>> to it? When I do that search, nothing comes up in the results.
>>
>> TIA.
>
> Screenshot Jpeg of search result uploaded to Imgbb
>  - https://ibb.co/Gd3s1pw

Thanks, but yesterday the Balabolka website started working for me and
the program began showing up in search results.

As I mentioned in another post after this started happening, "Cosmic ray?"

Thanks for replying though.

[Bucky Breeder]

John C. <r9j...@yahoo.com> posted this via
news:u5v6ru$1thld$2...@dont-email.me:

> Thanks, but yesterday the Balabolka website started working for me and
> the program began showing up in search results.
>
> As I mentioned in another post after this started happening, "Cosmic
> ray?"
>
> Thanks for replying though.
>
> --
> John C. BS206. No ad, CD, cripple, demo, nag, pay, pirated, share, spy,
> time-limited, trial or web wares for me please. I filter anything posted
> through Google Groups (source of the vast majority of spam posted here),
> cross-posted messages (those sent to more than one newsgroup at a time)
> and all posts from several trolls (eg. "Bucky Breeder"). I recommend you
> do likewise in all three cases.

Fuukeen idiot probably pulled his head out of his ass long enough to check
on a current computer instead of the Etch-A-Sketch he has stowed away up in
his colon.

--

I AM Bucky Breeder, (*(^;

And *NO*, that is *NOT* a Jedi Light Saber I have in my pocket!

But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm happy to see you either.

[Rink]

Op 8-6-2023 om 0:32 schreef John C.:

Does this site helps?

https://balabolka.en.softonic.com/

(updated Jul 12, 2023)


You can choose between "softonic review" and "author's review".
Last one says:

""
The program converts text to speech and WAV/MP3 files
The program converts text to speech. All computer voices

installed on your system are available to Balabolka.

The on-screen text can be saved as a WAV, MP3, OGG or
WMA file. The program can read the clipboard content,
view the text from CHM, DjVu, DOC, EPUB, FB2, HTML,
MOBI, ODT, PDF and RTF files, customize font and

background colour, control reading from the system tray
or by the global hotkeys.
""

Rink

[John C.]

A problem I have with Windows 7 is that it limits you to only one voice
in the Narrator module. Solutions to this (in the form of additional
voices) usually cost money. I was hoping that Balabolka would be able to
add voices, but that's not the case so I've lost interest in the program.

Thanks anyway.

--
John C. BS206. No ad, CD, cripple, demo, nag, pay, pirated, share, spy,
time-limited, trial or web wares for me please.

I filter out anything posted:
-through Google Groups (source of most of spam posted here)
-through Uzoreto (AKA "Vipernews", a source of the rest of the spam
posted here)
-cross-posted messages (sent to multiple newsgroups at a time)
-posts from several trolls (egs. "Bucky Breeder", "al").