Abstract: A computer speech system for digitally storing and reproducing representations of human speech. An analog waveform representative of a segment of speech is compressed for storage by storing companded differences between adjacent local maxima and minima of the waveform together with the lengths of time between the occurrences of the maxima and minima. The compressed speech is reproduced by looking up precomputed values in a lookup table according to the companded differences and times and furnishing the values from the lookup table to a digital-to-analog converter and thence to a conventional audio output device. The values are furnished to the converter by putting them on lower bits of the address bus and performing an operation at an address to which the converter responds.