A segment-based approach to voice conversion

A voice conversion algorithm that uses speech segments as conversion units is proposed. Input speech is decomposed into speech segments by a speech recognition module, and the segments are replaced by speech segments uttered by another speaker. This algorithm makes it possible to convert not only the static characteristics but also the dynamic characteristics of speaker individuality. The proposed voice conversion algorithm was used with two male speakers. Spectrum distortion between target speech and the converted speech was reduced to one-third the natural spectrum distortion between the two speakers. A listening experiment showed that, in terms of speaker identification accuracy, the speech converted by segment-sized units gave a score 20% higher than the speech converted frame-by-frame.>