Text to Voice Converter

Some time ago, Microsoft decided to introduce voice support in Windows, and we’re not referring to microphone or voice commands. What we mean is the computer’s ability to read text out loud. In this regard, Text to Voice Converter comes as a simple utility with which to convert any piece of text into voice.

Once installed, you’re free to run it and check out the set of features. On the visual side of things, the application looks pretty clean, with a completely custom main window, which gets you familiar with all it has to offer in only a few seconds. Apart from the main window, an animated assistant also makes its way on your desktop.

The process is pretty comprehensive and quick. There’s a large text field where you need to insert the paragraphs you want to hear, and pressing the Speak button makes the assistant read the whole text out loud. Adding text can either be done by writing it down, pasting, or using the open dialog to load a TXT file, with no support for other types.

In case you decide to modify text on the spot, it’s also possible to save the document, but again, only as a plain text file. For exporting, there’s also the possibility to save voice. Doing so creates a WAV file on your computer. There aren’t any quality configurations, and for some reason, most of them don’t even play.

If you don’t like the interface, it’s possible to select from three other types. They don’t differ that much, but offer neat alternatives. You can change the companion with options to choose from Genie the genie, Peedy the parrot, Merlin the mage, and Robby the robot.

Unfortunately, each change you make requires you to restart the application, but options only consist of visual tweaks, so this shouldn’t be done too many times. What’s more, the assistant follows the main window, and moving it too much around can leave the poor assistant visiting all the locations you stopped the window at. If you also decide to use other functions, the assistant fills up its actions queue, taking almost forever to finish.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Text to Voice Converter comes with good intentions, although it doesn’t bring anything new on the block. The visual style is pleasant, with several themes to choose from, as well as a few different assistants. On the other hand, file support is rather poor, and overall functionality makes the application feel a little rough around the edges.