This is slightly off topic but some people may find this setup interesting. I have a print-related disability, so I use screen readers to speak printed material to me. I actually prefer synthesized speech over human narrated audio. The screen readers I use:
* Voice Dream Reader (available on iOS and Android, but it is much better on iOS)
* Kurzweil 3000 (available on Windows and MacOS), plus Kurzweil3000.com (on any OS)
I have access to an amazing library, which is specifically designed for people with print-related disabilities, called Bookshare.org, which interfaces with both Voice Dream Reader and Kurzweil 3000.
I use Voice Dream Reader on an iPhone when driving or on the go (when I want to be discrete), to read books to me. I can usually understand 99%+ of what is being read while driving.
Also, when I am on the go, I will take my Surface Go with me and use Kurzweil 3000, which gives me a tablet-like experience. I also have a 17" laptop at home which I tremendously enjoy using for immersive reading with Kurzweil 3000. I can also take a bunch of really cool notes on it too. Another cool feature is that I can save super high quality mp3s of synthesized speech to my phone using Kurzweil 3000, if I want to.
The audio quality is stellar on both, but I have a USB sound card that I use on the Windows machines, known as a Sound BlasterX G6, to make it even better. I also have a comfortable gaming headset which I use on the Windows machines.
If there is a book that is not available on Bookshare.org, I will buy a physical copy, go to the local Fedex|Kinko's to get the book binding cut, then I will scan it with a Fujitsu Scansnap iX1500, which has a duplex automatic document feeder.
i like the idea of voice dream reader in theory, but in practice i find the voice synth kind of poor and difficult to listen to. i should probably just subscribe to audible but the reason i wanted it was for audio of pirated ebooks.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot: You may be surprised by the newly released Amazon Polly Neural Text to Speech voices. I use them sometimes, too, now: https://aws.amazon.com/polly/
Voice synthesis takes getting used to, and it is much easier to deal with if you have to rely on it for a print-related disability. The voices on Voice Dream Reader, such as Sharon or Heather, are excellent compared to the stock voices on iOS/Android.
You may want to try getting a subscription to the digital databases at Houston Public Library (if you live outside the state of Texas, otherwise it is free) before shelling out money for an Audible subscription. For $20/6 months or $40/year, they have one of the best digital media databases in the country (there are also a few other libraries of similar caliber. You also get premium access (including the app) to Lynda.com for that price, in addition to a ton of audio books.
* Voice Dream Reader (available on iOS and Android, but it is much better on iOS)
* Kurzweil 3000 (available on Windows and MacOS), plus Kurzweil3000.com (on any OS)
I have access to an amazing library, which is specifically designed for people with print-related disabilities, called Bookshare.org, which interfaces with both Voice Dream Reader and Kurzweil 3000.
I use Voice Dream Reader on an iPhone when driving or on the go (when I want to be discrete), to read books to me. I can usually understand 99%+ of what is being read while driving.
Also, when I am on the go, I will take my Surface Go with me and use Kurzweil 3000, which gives me a tablet-like experience. I also have a 17" laptop at home which I tremendously enjoy using for immersive reading with Kurzweil 3000. I can also take a bunch of really cool notes on it too. Another cool feature is that I can save super high quality mp3s of synthesized speech to my phone using Kurzweil 3000, if I want to.
The audio quality is stellar on both, but I have a USB sound card that I use on the Windows machines, known as a Sound BlasterX G6, to make it even better. I also have a comfortable gaming headset which I use on the Windows machines.
If there is a book that is not available on Bookshare.org, I will buy a physical copy, go to the local Fedex|Kinko's to get the book binding cut, then I will scan it with a Fujitsu Scansnap iX1500, which has a duplex automatic document feeder.