Overview
The SPO256 is a Speech Synthesizer chip used in many hardware Speech Synthesizers of the 8bit era. The SP0256 contains a Voice Generator, a small microprocessor, and a built-in ROM which contains 16Kbit (2Kbyte) of program code.
A number of different version of the SP0256 exist. The most common is the SP0256-AL2, where -AL2 means that the built-in ROM contains preprogrammed english allophones.
Hardware Speech Synthesizers
Amstrad SSA-1 Speech Synthesizer (SPO256 based)
Dk'tronics Speech Synthesizer (SPO256 based)
TMPI speech synthetizer (MEA8000 based)
Software Speech Synthesizers
With some clever programming it is possible to program a software Speech Synthesizer with good results.
Speech (Symbos software)