Balabolka is a feature-rich program to read text aloud from a variety of file types including DOC, RTF, PDF, ODT, FB2 and HTML. The program uses built-in Windows speech tools, but lets you fine tune voices, including rate and pitch, and a substitution list can also be applied to improve the quality of the voice's articulation. The program supports customized font and background color, skins, control reading from the system tray or by the global hotkeys.
The program can save to a variety of audio formats and quality levels, and can include synchronized text to external LRC files or in MP3 tags inside the audio files. When the audio file is played with players on a computer or on modern digital audio players, the text will be displayed synchronously (in the same way as lyrics for songs).
The program includes batch conversion tools from of a wide variety of document formats to audio or plain text and a file compare tool, file splitter and screen magnification window. Command-line functions also supported.
Category: | |
Runs on: | WinXP / Vista / Win7 / Win8 / Win10 |
Writes settings to: | Application folder |
Dependencies: | Microsoft Speech API (SAPI). This is included by default in Win2K and above. |
Stealth: ? | Yes |
Unicode support: | Yes |
License: | Freeware |
How to extract: |
Download the "Portable Version" ZIP package and extract to a folder of your choice. Launch balabolka.exe. Optionally, delete unnecessary language and help files. |
Similar/alternative apps: | DSpeech |
What's new? |
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@ smaragdus: Thanks ... and updated ;)
v2.10.0.573
Balabolka 2.10.0.573 released.
v2.10.0.572
@Checker:
I did something far better.
I uninstalled the flawed ver. 2.10.0.572 portable and installed desktop ver. 2.9.0.565 of Balabolka. My Avast AV doesn't complain anymore.
v2.10.0.572
@ Mixture: Checked with 'virustotal'. Only Avast shows it as 'Win32:Malware-gen'. It's 1/54.
Suggestion: Delete 'Avast' from your system.
v2.10.0.572
@ smaragdus: Thanks ... and updated ;)
v2.10.0.572
Balabolka version 2.10.0.572 is out.
v2.10.0.571
Excellent program, better than the commercial ones!
v2.9.0.566
Sorry for my typo.
Last version before v2.9.0.561 was v2.9.0.560 (not v2.9.0.839)
@ Emka: Changelog is within the ZIP as 'history.eng.txt'.
v2.9.0.561
v2.09 is out, can't find a changelog
v2.8.0.557
After years of using to use Balabolka I officaly gave up and bought textaloud a couple days ago.
Balabolka has for years had a strange bug where the longer it runs in the background the longer the delay it takes when you hit the "read selected text" hotkey.
TextAloud doesn't have this issue and not having to restart Balabolka every hour feels like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
v2.15.0.737