SP0256-AL2 Speech Synthesizer (Z80 / Z88DK)

A classic, no-nonsense driver and toolchain for driving the General Instrument SP0256-AL2 allophone speech chip from a Z80 CPU, built with the Z88DK toolkit.

This has been tested and is working on the following hardware:

SC126 z180 computer

Speech Synthesizer for RC2014-style computers

Here is a short video that covers this process:

Tomorrow never sleeps on YouTube

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📜 Overview

This project delivers a proven, straightforward implementation of SP0256-AL2 speech synthesis, using:

• Allophone table mapping decimal codes (0–63) to phonemes
• A C header (phonemes.h) for easy phoneme reference in your Z80 code
• Example Z80 driver code targeting the SCZ180+SP0256-AL2 platform
• Integration with Z88DK for cross-compiling your speech programs

By sticking to time-tested patterns and a clear allophone mapping, you get reliable speech output with minimal runtime overhead.

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🎯 Features

• Complete allophone mapping: Decimal values 0–63 → phoneme names (stored in include/phonemes.h)
• C driver for SP0256-AL2 control and data latching
• Z88DK build scripts for seamless cross-compilation to Z80 targets
• Minimal dependencies—just a Z80 system, SP0256-AL2, and Z88DK

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📖 Allophone Table

Code	Phoneme	Code	Phoneme	Code	Phoneme	Code	Phoneme
0	AL_PA1	16	AL_RR1	32	AL_AW	48	AL_WH
1	AL_PA2	17	AL_AX	33	AL_AY	49	AL_YY1
2	AL_PA3	18	AL_MM	34	AL_EH	50	AL_CH
3	AL_PA4	19	AL_TT1	35	AL_OY	51	AL_ER1
4	AL_PA5	20	AL_DH1	36	AL_AO	52	AL_ER2
5	AL_OY	21	AL_LY	37	AL_AA	53	AL_OW
6	AL_AY	22	AL_EY	38	AL_AE	54	AL_DH2
7	AL_EH	23	AL_KK3	39	AL_AH	55	AL_SS
8	AL_KK3	24	AL_PP	40	AL_EH1	56	AL_NN2
9	AL_PP	25	AL_JH	41	AL_EH2	57	AL_HH2
10	AL_JH	26	AL_NN1	42	AL_ER	58	AL_OR
11	AL_NN1	27	AL_IH	43	AL_UH1	59	AL_AR
12	AL_IH	28	AL_ITT2	44	AL_UH2	60	AL_YR
13	AL_ITT2	29	AL_RR2	45	AL_OW1	61	AL_GG2
14	AL_RR1	30	AL_AX2	46	AL_OW2	62	AL_EL
15	AL_AX	31	AL_MM2	47	AL_AW1	63	AL_BB2

(See include/phonemes.h for the full definitions.)

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🛠️ Prerequisites

• Z88DK (Z80 C development toolkit)
  Clone or install from:
  https://github.com/z88dk/z88dk

• A Z80-based target (e.g., SCZ180, CP/M, custom board) wired to an SP0256-AL2

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🚀 Building & Installation

1. Clone this repo

   git clone https://github.com/cerkit/sp0256-synth.git
   cd sp0256-synth

2. Ensure that the Z88DK binaries are in your PATH: export PATH=${PATH}:${HOME}/z88dk/bin export ZCCCFG=${HOME}/z88dk/lib/config

3. Build your PROGRAM.bin file

   zcc +scz180 -o future future_speech.c -create-app

4. Upload the generated binary (future.bin to future.com) to your retro computer using XMODEM (I am using the serial) program for MacOS).

  c:
  b:xm r future.com

• Choose to Send File by XMODEM in terminal program
• Upload the future.bin file

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⚙️ Usage

• In Z80 code, include the headers:

  #include <z180.h>

#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include "phonemes.h" // Include allophone definitions

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## 📝 References

- **Z88DK** – Z80 C compiler toolkit  
[https://github.com/z88dk/z88dk](https://github.com/z88dk/z88dk)
- **General Instrument SP0256-AL2 Datasheet**
- **Allophone definitions** from `include/phonemes.h`

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## 🤝 Contributing

Traditional, battle-tested code wins. If you spot an error in the phoneme mapping, send a PR against `include/phonemes.h`.