Re: [Emacspeak] Emacsvox and Omnivox: an early experiment now available to try

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?

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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

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<http://www.youtube.com/vtsaran>

Spotify:

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Find my music on

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Band Camp: http://victortsaran.bandcamp.com

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