Hi Saad, Thanks for taking the time to write. It’s great to hear that you’ve been using Omnivox regularly with Emacspeak and Eloquence on WSL. Emacsvox is tightly integrated with Omnivox, and I think you’ll get the fullest experience using them together. I’ve certainly found this the most responsive combination, with Windows handling the audio. When you get a chance to try Emacsvox, I’d be very interested to hear how the transition goes. Let me know if you have any issues and I’ll do my best to assist. Regards, Bart Saad Attieh <saad_attieh@xxxxxxxxxx> writes: > Just wanted to write in and say thanks. > I’ve been using emacspeak with omnivox solidly, for the past 2 to 3 weeks now. I > run Emacspeak on WSL and pipe to eloquence on my windows via omnivox. I did > use an LLM to connect everything up. I am looking forward to at some point > migrating from Emacspeak to Emacsvox. > > Regards, > Saad > Sent from my iPhone (excuse typos) > > Saad Attieh > saad_attieh@xxxxxx > http://saad.ai > > On 24 Sep 2026, at 8:48 am, Victor Tsaran <emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > I see. Thanks. > > On Wed, Sep 23, 2026 at 1:01 PM Parham Doustdar <parham90@xxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > Hi Victor, > You need Emacsvox (which would be the Emacspeak equivalent) and you > also need Omnivox (which would be the Swiftmac equivalent), if that > makes sense. > HTH. > > On 23 Sep 2026, at 21:59, Victor Tsaran (via emacspeak Mailing List) > <emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Thanks for the explanation. > So, in the end, do I only need Omnivox or both Emacsvox and > Omnivox? > > --- --- --- --- > Find my music on > Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/victortsaran > Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/605ZF2JPei9KqgbXBqYA16 > Band Camp: http://victortsaran.bandcamp.com > > On Tue, Sep 22, 2026 at 11:57 PM Bart Bunting > <bart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Hi Victor, > > Thanks for pointing this out. I had let the published manual fall > behind the repository, and the Mac and Linux instructions were > too easy to miss among the WSL material. I have now pushed the > updated README and republished the manual. Sorry for the > confusion. > > Emacsvox needs a speech-server process. For a new installation, > I recommend Omnivox. On macOS, Omnivox uses Apple’s > AVSpeechSynthesizer and the system voices available through > it. Emacsvox talks to Omnivox, which handles synthesis and > playback; it does not connect directly to the Mac’s speech > system. > > Emacsvox should still work with older Emacspeak-compatible > speech servers, but I have not tested that route heavily. Omnivox > retains the traditional Emacspeak line protocol, while the newer > protocol used between Emacsvox and Omnivox is significantly > different and more extensive. Many Emacsvox features rely on > those additions for their full experience. For example: > > • Voice discovery and palettes let you browse installed engines > and voices, preview adjustments, and give a named voice an > ordered set of choices across engines, with fallbacks when a > preferred voice is unavailable. > • Aural Presentation can coordinate speech, voice changes, > sounds, tones, pauses and spatial placement in a single > presentation, including cues positioned within speech. > • Selective replacement lets a newer navigation or status update > cancel obsolete speech from the same context without clearing > unrelated output. > • Playback feedback tells Emacs when speech reaches a marked > position or finishes, supporting features that need to coordinate > with playback. > > The compatibility path preserves ordinary speech and some > simpler presentation behavior, but cannot provide all of those > facilities or the same timing guarantees. So an older server may > be usable, but Omnivox is the recommended route for the full > Emacsvox experience. > > On either an Intel or Apple silicon Mac, you can install and check > Omnivox with Homebrew: > > sh ⧉ > > brew install bartbunting/omnivox/omnivox > "$(brew --prefix omnivox)/bin/omnivox" --check > > That installs the speech server. Emacs 30.2 or newer and > Emacsvox are installed separately. The Mac instructions explain > how to select the Homebrew executable for Emacsvox, including > when starting Emacs from Finder: > > https://bartbunting.github.io/emacsvox/Installing-An-Omnivox-Release-Binary.html > > > Then follow the build and first-speech steps here: > > https://bartbunting.github.io/emacsvox/Quick-Installation.html > > For GNU/Linux, the manual covers Debian/Ubuntu packages and > the archive or source installation routes. Omnivox normally uses > eSpeak NG there. The Emacsvox package requires a packaged > Emacs 30.2 or newer; the Omnivox amd64 package is tested on > Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04: > > https://bartbunting.github.io/emacsvox/Installation.html > > My everyday setup is still WSL2, so feedback on the Mac > installation is particularly useful. Please let me know if any step > is unclear. > > Kind regards, > > Bart > > Victor Tsaran <vtsaran@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > > > Hi Bart. > > I did not see any installation notes or configurations for > Emacsvox for Mac > > or Linux in the Github repository. Did I miss something? > > Do I need Omnivox for Emacsvox or the latter links to my > default speech > > synthesis manager on mac? > > > > > > On Tue, Sep 22, 2026 at 4:15 PM Bart Bunting > <emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > wrote: > > > >> Hello all, > >> > >> I wanted to follow up on my August announcement with the > main changes > >> since then, particularly the installation options and speech > engines. > >> > >> I am conscious that this list is specifically about Emacspeak, > and do not > >> want to fill it with Emacsvox announcements. Robert and I > are working > >> towards a dedicated Emacsvox mailing list. In the meantime, > I hope an > >> update on this existing thread is useful to those who > expressed interest. > >> > >> The current releases are Emacsvox 2026.9.5 and Omnivox > 1.12.1. One > >> correction to my original announcement: Emacsvox now > supports Emacs 30.2 > >> and newer, so Emacs 31 is no longer required. > >> > >> Installation should now be considerably easier: > >> > >> • Windows: There is a downloadable Windows x64 setup > wizard containing > >> Emacs, Emacsvox and Omnivox. It installs for the current > user, offers a > >> speech test, and creates a Start menu shortcut. No > administrator > >> privileges, compiler or WSL installation are required. This > installer is an > >> unsigned preview, currently bundling Omnivox 1.12.0; > testing with screen > >> readers and on fresh machines would be particularly > welcome. The guided > >> WSL2 installation remains available. > >> • macOS: Omnivox now has a Homebrew tap, supporting > both Apple silicon and > >> Intel Macs. Install it with brew install > bartbunting/omnivox/omnivox. The > >> tap is already updated to 1.12.1. Emacs and Emacsvox are > installed > >> separately. > >> • Debian and Ubuntu packaging: Both projects now publish > downloadable .deb > >> packages. Emacsvox requires a packaged Emacs 30.2 or > newer. Omnivox’s amd64 > >> package is tested on Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04. These are > release downloads, > >> rather than packages in the distributions’ official > repositories. > >> > >> Omnivox’s speech-engine choices have also expanded: > >> > >> • eSpeak NG on Windows, macOS and GNU/Linux. > >> • Native Windows WinRT voices and macOS > AVSpeechSynthesizer voices. > >> • Optional Piper neural voices, Flite, and RuTTS Russian > voices. > >> • RHVoice, with a separately installed compatible runtime > and voice data. > >> • Eloquence and Software DECtalk on Windows, using > compatible runtimes > >> supplied by the user. > >> • Experimental TGSpeechBox support on Windows x64. > >> > >> Availability varies by platform and architecture. MBROLA > support and > >> additional Linux integrations are also being developed, but > are not part of > >> the standard release installation. Proprietary speech > runtimes are not > >> distributed with either project. > >> > >> Voice installation and configuration have received quite a lot > of > >> attention. In the WSL-to-Windows setup, Emacsvox can now > install matching > >> optional engine components and download additional Piper, > Flite and RHVoice > >> voices from within Emacs. Downloads are verified, and > installing a voice is > >> separate from enabling and applying it. > >> > >> The voice browser lets you search, listen to samples, compare > voices and > >> try eSpeak variants. The common voice editor brings > together voice > >> adjustments and fallback choices, including engine-specific > Eloquence and > >> DECtalk controls where supported. These managed download > facilities > >> currently use the bundled WSL-to-Windows launcher; other > launch > >> arrangements still need their own engine and voice > configuration. Existing > >> users with custom voice palettes should read the upgrade > notes, as older > >> palettes require conversion. > >> > >> There have also been improvements to speech > responsiveness, interruption > >> and recovery. Omnivox 1.12.1 fixes a case where speech > stopped partway > >> through a line containing a link. > >> > >> On the Emacsvox side, changes include improvements to > Agent Shell response > >> navigation and speech, Notmuch performance, terminal > completion and > >> minibuffer feedback. Image and PDF OCR now uses > PaddleOCR, with > >> reading-order and table support. Aural Presentation also has > more > >> accessible controls for investigating a particular piece of > feedback and > >> changing its voice or sound. > >> > >> Another preview feature allows Emacs to run on a remote > Linux machine > >> while Omnivox synthesizes and plays speech on your > workstation, connected > >> through SSH. > >> > >> The Emacsvox manual describes installation, voice setup, > everyday use and > >> troubleshooting. Both projects remain experimental, and > reports from > >> different machines and configurations are very welcome. > Until the dedicated > >> list is ready, please feel free to contact me directly or use the > projects’ > >> GitHub issue trackers. > >> > >> My thanks again to Raman for Emacspeak and the foundation > it provides, to > >> Robert for his modernization and cross-platform work, and to > everyone who > >> has tried these projects or offered feedback. > >> > >> Kind regards, > >> > >> Bart > >> > >> > >> <bart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > >> > >> > > >> > > >> > Hello all, > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > There has been some interest in Emacsvox and Omnivox, > so I thought it > >> might > >> > be useful to describe where the projects currently stand > and make them > >> > available to anyone who would like to experiment with > them. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Emacsvox is an experimental Emacs 31 audio desktop > derived from > >> Emacspeak: > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > https://github.com/bartbunting/emacsvox > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Robert Melton began Emacsvox as a modernization of > Emacspeak for current > >> > Emacs and Emacs Lisp. My repository started from Robert's > work but has > >> since > >> > diverged substantially. I do not want to imply that Robert > has endorsed > >> all > >> > the directions I have taken. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Emacsvox is not a drop-in replacement for an existing > Emacspeak > >> > configuration. It requires Emacs 31 or newer, uses its own > emacsvox-* > >> > namespace, and has made some incompatible changes > while replacing > >> obsolete > >> > APIs and modernizing the Lisp. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Much of my work has concentrated on current Emacs > packages and workflows, > >> > including Org, Notmuch, Magit, EAT, Agent Shell, Vertico, > Corfu and > >> others. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > The largest architectural experiment is Aural Presentation. > Its purpose > >> is > >> > to separate the meaning of an event or object from the way > it is > >> presented. > >> > A package can identify something as a heading, unread > message, tool > >> result, > >> > folded section or warning without permanently deciding > which voice, > >> sound, > >> > tone, pause or spatial position must represent it. Users can > then adjust > >> > that presentation globally or for a particular package, > mode, session or > >> > buffer. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Omnivox is the accompanying cross-platform speech > server: > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > https://github.com/bartbunting/omnivox > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Omnivox also began with Robert's work. I initially > developed it further > >> > because I wanted responsive speech while running Emacs > inside WSL2, with > >> > Windows performing synthesis and audio playback. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > On Windows, Omnivox supports the native WinRT voices > and eSpeak. It can > >> also > >> > use a locally installed Freedom Scientific Eloquence > runtime and an > >> optional > >> > Software DECtalk helper. On macOS it supports > AVSpeechSynthesizer and > >> > eSpeak, while GNU/Linux uses eSpeak, with Piper available > as an > >> experimental > >> > option. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Omnivox retains the traditional Emacspeak line protocol > and includes an > >> > adapter for upstream Emacspeak. The additional Emacsvox > protocol is > >> > negotiated separately. It adds facilities such as logical > voice > >> discovery, > >> > structured speech and sound timelines, selective > cancellation, playback > >> > markers and callbacks. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > These facilities make some useful behaviours possible, but > they also > >> > introduce considerably more complexity than the > deliberately small > >> original > >> > Emacspeak protocol. I regard this as an experiment in a > different > >> direction, > >> > not an assertion that the original design was wrong. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Both projects are still at an early stage. There will certainly > be bugs, > >> > rough edges and assumptions inherited from my own > setup. Nevertheless, > >> they > >> > are not merely demonstrations: I use Emacsvox and > Omnivox every day as my > >> > normal Emacs and speech environment. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > I should also be transparent about how the work has been > produced. I have > >> > used Agent Shell and Codex extensively during the > development of both > >> > projects. This has greatly accelerated the work and may > also have > >> introduced > >> > some of the rough edges associated with what is now > called "vibe coding." > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > I do not regard generated code as evidence of correctness. > Both projects > >> are > >> > backed by extensive automated test suites and build, > documentation and > >> > release checks. Even so, tests only verify the assumptions > encoded in > >> them. > >> > They cannot replace human review or real use across a > wider range of > >> > machines and configurations. That is another reason I > describe these > >> > projects as experiments and welcome independent testing > and criticism. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > My principal configuration is Emacs running inside WSL2 > with Omnivox > >> running > >> > natively on Windows, so that remains the best-exercised > route. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > I have now revised and published the Emacsvox manual to > the point where > >> > other people should be able to attempt an installation: > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > https://bartbunting.github.io/emacsvox/ > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > The manual describes the platform routes, prerequisites, > installation, > >> > first-speech checks and recovery steps. It includes a > straightforward > >> WSL2 > >> > route using a pre-built Omnivox archive and a bounded > native-Windows > >> trial. > >> > Native Windows Emacsvox remains explicitly marked as a > preview because > >> the > >> > complete combination still needs fresh-machine testing. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > I have also published Omnivox 1.4.1 binary archives for > Windows x64 and > >> > ARM64, macOS Intel and Apple silicon, and GNU/Linux > x86-64: > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > https://github.com/bartbunting/omnivox/releases/tag/v1.4.1 > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > The archives include the required adjacent runtime data, > licence > >> information > >> > and published SHA-256 checksums. The Windows and > macOS archives are not > >> > code-signed, which is documented so that nobody is > encouraged to weaken > >> > local security policy merely to try them. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > I am putting this forward because there has been interest, > not because I > >> > want to compete with Emacspeak, fragment its community > or step on > >> anyone's > >> > toes. I hope it will be received in that spirit. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Testing reports, bug reports and technical discussion would > be very > >> welcome, > >> > especially from configurations different from mine. > Contributions are > >> also > >> > welcome from anyone who would like to become involved. > That might mean > >> code, > >> > documentation, testing another platform, adding a speech > engine, > >> improving > >> > an integration, investigating a bug or simply reporting > where the > >> > instructions were unclear. There is no expectation that a > contribution > >> needs > >> > to be large. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > I would also be interested in comparing approaches with > other current > >> > Emacspeak-related work. There may be useful ideas and > fixes that can be > >> > shared even where the projects make different > architectural choices. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Finally, none of this would exist without T. V. Raman's > extraordinary > >> work > >> > in creating and sustaining Emacspeak and establishing the > audio-desktop > >> > ideas on which it depends. Robert Melton's Emacs > modernization and > >> original > >> > cross-platform work gave me the practical foundation from > which to > >> begin. My > >> > sincere thanks to both of them. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Kind regards, > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Bart > >> > > >> > > >> Emacspeak discussion list -- emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > >> To unsubscribe send email to: > >> emacspeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a subject of: > unsubscribe > >> > > > > > > -- > > > > --- --- --- --- > > Find my music on > > Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/victortsaran > > <http://www.youtube.com/vtsaran> > > Spotify: > https://open.spotify.com/artist/605ZF2JPei9KqgbXBqYA16 > > Band Camp: http://victortsaran.bandcamp.com > > Emacspeak discussion list -- emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe send email to: > emacspeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a subject of: unsubscribe > > -- > > --- --- --- --- > Find my music on > Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/victortsaran > Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/605ZF2JPei9KqgbXBqYA16 > Band Camp: http://victortsaran.bandcamp.com > > Emacspeak discussion list -- emacspeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe send email to: > emacspeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a subject of: unsubscribe
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