gear roundup

14 Sep

Amazon’s Audiobook Narrators Can Now Make Their Own AI Voice Clones

stp2y0 CommentsAIamazon, apple, artificial intelligence, gear roundup, google, meta

Synthetic voices have been proliferating for years, and the generative AI boom of the new ’20s has sped that process right along. AI voices are everywhere—in podcasts, in political campaigns, and in chatbots where they maybe-not-so-subtly replicate celebrity voices. Soon, they’ll be all up in your audiobooks too.Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook company, announced a trial program for generating AI voice clones to read works in its audiobook marketplace. The announcement came via a post in ACX—Audiobook Creation Exchange—Audible’s service that lets authors and publishers turn written books into audiobooks.“We're taking measured steps to test new technologies to help expand our…

08 Jun

Things Keep Getting Worse for the Humane Ai Pin

stp2y0 CommentsGenAIartificial intelligence, audiophile, elon musk, gear roundup, google

Each speaker combo is about 42 inches tall. Photograph: Wilson AudioThis new iteration of the WATT/Puppy is the first redesign of the speakers since 2011. They ain’t cheap though, and cost more than $53,000 for a pair (£41,998 if you speak British). You can customize individual parts of the speakers, like the grille colors and hardware bits, making it possible to put together a variety of distinctive-looking sets. You can also install spikes on the feet for near-total vibrational isolation—which should keep the sound from getting flabby when Walter Becker hits the lowest notes on your 180-gram audiophile vinyl Aja…