Virtual Voice Sample

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THE DARKNESS

By: Stephen R. King
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
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Publisher's summary

Find your way through the darkness with seven new thrilling short stories by bestselling Amazon author Stephen R. King. Do not let the lack of light stop you from discovering more adventures and stories that will keep you up at night and ignite the imagination. There is no place to hide in, THE DARKNESS!

This title uses virtual voice narration

Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks.
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What listeners say about THE DARKNESS

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

AI is awful

I hated the AI voice. Too flat and monotone. It really ruined the entire book

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

The the story plots and character development were passably good. The AI narration ruined them for me : Cold, unemotional delivery in a fake British accent makes for an unpleasant "read". The AI isn't working, Audible!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not my favorite

Didn’t know it was an AI narrative. It took away from the stories. Also didn’t know it was a collection of stories that ended abruptly. Would not have used a credit. I’ll learn to be more careful. I’ve been a King fan forever but this did not measure up for me.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Did not enjoy the narration at all

It was like a three year old reading the encyclopedia . They know the letters and most words but not enough

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The stories

This was pretty good. The computer generated voice and the neutral names made it difficult to tell if the people in the stories were male or female. Good Stories though.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Unfortunate choice with AI

The AI voice ruined what would have been another great set of stories from King. Mispronouncing basic words, bad accent and no soul ruined the entire experience. I couldn’t even finish the stories.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not good

I thought this was the the darkness not 5 different stories that don’t have an ending. The AI voice was awful.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

AI Voice

The story was actually pretty good, or what I could tolerate of it. The AI voice was absolutely horrible. There’s no tone or inflection and it just made the story unbearable. Sadly, I was only able to listen to about the first hour before I had to turn it off, and just could not finish. Don’t waste your time with any of the AI voice books.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Horrible Reading

The stories themselves aren't that bad. The reading is abominable though. I couldn't continue to listen, it's like listening to a robot read.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Beware: Virtual Voice (Cringeworthy).

So…reading of stories is done by Virtual Voice. There is a minuscule attempt at emotion but the emotional affect is often incorrect. Cadence never changes, therefore pauses between characters is missing. Emotional content in a character’s speech is poorly portrayed. The reading lacks the nuance a Human Reader is capable of performing. I deleted the other 3 mini volumes, cringed through The Birth of Evil, then deleted the remainder of The Darkness. I am surprised Stephen King finds this type of performance of his work acceptable. I may be willing to try Virtual Voice readings in a year or two from now but totally unsatisfactory at this time.

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