diff --git a/db_reader.py b/db_reader.py
index 7a7f4f0..891cbb3 100644
--- a/db_reader.py
+++ b/db_reader.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import argparse
+import struct
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from io import SEEK_SET
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -20,10 +21,10 @@ def read_str(io: BinaryIO):
     output_str = ""
     while True:
         char = unpack_from("<c", io.read(1))[0]
-        if char == "\x00":  # null char at the end of string
+        if char == b"\x00":  # null char at the end of string
             break
         else:
-            output_str += char
+            output_str += char.decode('latin1')
     return output_str
 
 
@@ -71,8 +72,15 @@ class MbrolaDatabase:
     silence_phone: str = "_"  # silence symbol in the database
 
     diphone_table: Dict[Diphone, DiphoneInfo] = field(default_factory=dict)
+    remapped_diphones: Dict[Diphone, Diphone] = field(default_factory=dict)
     pitch_marks: np.ndarray = None
 
+    def __getitem__(self, diph: Diphone):
+        try:
+            return self.diphone_table[diph]
+        except KeyError:
+            return self.diphone_table[self.remapped_diphones[diph]]
+
     def read_header(self, db_file: BinaryIO):
         """Reads the database header"""
         self.magic_header = db_file.read(6).decode()
@@ -113,6 +121,8 @@ class MbrolaDatabase:
                                    halfseg=half_segment,
                                    pos_pm=position_pm,
                                    nb_frame=nb_frames)
+            if (left_phone, right_phone) in self.diphone_table:
+                print((left_phone, right_phone), " already in table")
             self.diphone_table[(left_phone, right_phone)] = new_diph
 
             # keep track of the phoneme with the biggest number of frames
@@ -120,18 +130,42 @@ class MbrolaDatabase:
                 self.max_frame = nb_wframe
             i += 1
 
+        # retrieving all phonemes remaps
+        while i < self.nb_diphone:
+            left_phone = read_str(db_file)
+            right_phone = read_str(db_file)
+            repl_diph = (left_phone, right_phone)
+
+            if repl_diph not in self.diphone_table:
+                print(f"({repl_diph[0]}, {repl_diph[1]}) were not present in the database!")
+                continue
+
+            left_phone = read_str(db_file)
+            right_phone = read_str(db_file)
+            remapped_diph = (left_phone, right_phone)
+
+            self.remapped_diphones[remapped_diph] = repl_diph
+            i += 1
+
+        # sanity check
+        assert len(self.diphone_table) + len(self.remapped_diphones) == self.nb_diphone
+
+
     def read_pitchmarks(self, db_file: BinaryIO):
         round_size = (self.size_mark + 3) // 4
-        self.pitch_marks = np.array(f"<{round_size}B", db_file.read(round_size))
+        offsets = unpack(f"<{round_size}B", db_file.read(round_size))
+        self.pitch_marks = np.array(offsets)
         self.raw_offset = db_file.tell()
 
     def read_info(self, db_file: BinaryIO):
-        db_file.seek(self.raw_offset + self.size_raw, whence=SEEK_SET)
+        db_file.seek(self.raw_offset + self.size_raw, SEEK_SET)
         self.info = []
         while True:
             try:
-                self.info.append(read_str(db_file))
-            except EOFError:
+                s = read_str(db_file)
+                if s:
+                    self.info.append(s)
+            except (EOFError, struct.error):
                 break
 
     def read_database(self):
@@ -154,23 +188,5 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         raise ValueError("Can't find database file")
 
     mbr_db = MbrolaDatabase(db_path=db_path)
+    mbr_db.read_database()
 
-    with open(db_path, "rb") as db_file:
-        # should read "mbrola"
-        mbr_db.magic_header = db_file.read(6).decode()
-        mbr_db.version = db_file.read(5).decode()
-        mbr_db.nb_diphone = unpack_from("<h", db_file)[0]
-        old_size_mark = unpack_from("<H", db_file)[0]
-        if old_size_mark == 0:
-            mbr_db.size_mark = unpack_from("<i", db_file)
-        else:
-            mbr_db.size_mark = old_size_mark
-        mbr_db.size_raw = unpack_from("<i", db_file)
-        mbr_db.freq = unpack_from("<h", db_file)
-        mbr_db.mbr_period = unpack_from("<B", db_file)
-        mbr_db.coding = unpack_from("<B", db_file)
-
-        # TODO:
-        # ReadDatabaseIndex(dba) ||
-        # !ReadDatabasePitchMark(dba) ||
-        #  !ReadDatabaseInfo(dba)