The ZX80, ZX81 and TS 1000 computers lacked sound synthesizers, a moderately common feature of other home computers.
Sinclair owners could expand their computer with aftermarket sound synthesizers (most based on the General Instruments AY-3-8910), speech synthesizers and speech recognition systems.
| Name | Description | Computers |
|---|---|---|
| Amplifier Unit for TS Computers | Amplifier unit allows complete control over speech volume. Works with 9V battery included. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Audio Recognition System | Voiceprint identification, voice analysis or tone switch. 2K and 16K. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Bach Box | Hook up to any audio amplifier and start composing your own tunes. Pseudo-polyphonic output. Sample tune and full instructions included. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Big Ears Speech Recognition | Speech recognition. Connects through I/O port. Microphone and cables included. Words are stored as voice patterns which the system learns from repetition. Voice prints occupy about 150 bytes each. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Blippo | Sound effects generator. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Cognivox | Speech recognition unit/response unit. Library of 32 words or short phrases. Can be trained to recognize voice commands. Requires 16K. It was made for other home computers but there’s no evidence it was produced for the Sinclair. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| DCP Speech Pack | Compact cased speech unit. Built-in vocabulary; POKE commands make it speak. Additional word packs plug in inside. Contains all letters of the alphabet, numbers zero to over a million and some other general words. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Digitizing Hardware | Hardware for 2068 owners to create their own vocabularies. Plugs into ear socket. Spoken words are digitized and stored in memory automatically. Allows for an unlimited vocabulary. Can digitize other sounds as well as special effects. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Downloadable |
| Filtered Connector Plug | Filtered connector plug conditions speech signal for use with external amplifiers such as AUO1. Plugs between MIC and amp. Internal speaker may be disabled by program if desired. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Mozart | Compose yourself: music for the Timex-Sinclair computer. A complete hardware/software package. Three voices, noise channel. Built-in speaker. Plugs into ZX81 or TS1000 without modification. Complete instruction manual included. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Music Synthesizer and I/O Port | Three independently programmable voices and noise generator (AY-3-8910). I/O is arranged as two 8-bit bidirectional ports. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Namal Super Talker | Speech synthesizer. 560 common word dictionary, built-in RAM. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Polyphonic System | Includes Poly Port and Synthi Soft. 2K. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Programmable Sound Generator | Timex/Sinclair 1000 | |
| QS Sound Board | AY-3-8910 sound generator based sound synthesizer. Three voices, 5 octave range. Sinclair Place imported a version manufactured by Indescomp. | Sinclair ZX80, Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| SONUS | Three-voice, AY-3-8910 sound-chip based module with stereo option. A module in the BASICare Modular Expansion System. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Sound Booster | Plugs into rear port, amplifies BEEP and SOUND output. Has pass-through buss. | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Sound Unit | Programmable sound unit with built in loudspeaker, allow programmable generation of a whole range of rounds from music to special effects. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Speech Synthesis Unlimited | Uses phonemes to build up words. Average of 6 bytes will store the phoneme codes for a spoken word. Self-contained, including amplifier, speaker and bidirectional computer interface so other add-ons may be used. Jack to external speaker. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Speech Synthesizer | Speech synth for ZX Spectrum. Announced before TS 2068 was launched. | |
| Speech Synthesizer and Amplifier | Includes text to speech converter. Requires twister board. | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| SRS1000 Speech Recognition System | Train your computer to obey your voice commands. Used a microphone and amplifier connected to the microphone jack to record and recognize words. Included speech amplifier unit, program and documentation. An article by Brad Bennett in Sync v3 n6 described how to build the speech amplifier unit and included a program for recording “voice prints” | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| SRS2000 Speech Recognition System | Train your computer to obey your voice commands. Recognizes up to eight spoken words. Used a microphone and amplifier connected to the microphone jack to record and recognize words. Included speech amplifier unit, program and documentation. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Downloadable |
| Teach Your ZX80/81 to Talk | Detailed plans for hardware, parts sources, and software to make your computer produce natural speech. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Telesound 84 | Enables any sound source such as the loudspeaker or sound effects from a home computer to be heard direct through an unmodified TV set. Three snap on connections inside the computer. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| The Arcade Master | Sound module with three tone generators, 8 octave range, 3 channel mixer, noise source; uses AY-3-8910. Two TTL I/O ports with mating connectors for Atari joysticks. Memory-mapped. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| The Parrot | The Parrot used the General Instruments SP0256 speech synthesizer chip, which used 64 allophones to generate speech. Supplied with software on cassette enabling you to select, string together, and pronounce the sounds. | Sinclair ZX80, Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| Three Channel Sound System | AY-3-8910-based sound synthesizer. Requires twister board. | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| TS2068 Speech Synthesizer | Fully-decoded speech synthesizer that can be used to add speech to your existing programs or to include speech in your new programs. Uses the General Instruments SPO256A speech synthesizer chip; allows you to say virtually anything in English. Includes its own audio amplifier, filter and volume control. 9v battery provides power. Audio output drives 8 | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Zebra-Talker 1000 | Unlimited vocabulary voice synthesizer uses the Votrax SC-01 phoneme synthesizer with 4 programmable pitch levels and automatic inflection. It produces all the phonemes required for English speech. The Zebra-Talker comes complete with the ZTalker Text to Speech software on cassette. This software contains an advanced machine language algorithm with more than 400 rules of English | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 1500 |
| Zebra-Talker 2068 | Unlimited vocabulary voice synthesizer uses the Votrax SC-01 phoneme synthesizer with 4 programmable pitch levels and automatic inflection. It produces all the phonemes required for English speech. The Zebra-Talker comes complete with the ZTalker Text to Speech software on cassette. This software contains an advanced machine language algorithm with more than 400 rules of English | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Downloadable |
| ZON X-81 | Self-contained sound unit; uses AY-3-8910 3 channel sound chip. Full instructions and programs supplied. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| ZX Micro Amplifier | Etched and drilled circuit board. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| ZXTALKER | Unlimited vocabulary, adjustable pitch, amp and speaker included. Bare board and assembled versions. | Timex/Sinclair 1000 |