Unpopular Opinions

[KingPapillon]

I think my only real issue with Yamaha (not exclusive to V5) right now is how uh... draconian they are with Vocaloid.

Yup, its extremely obvious too when every existing developer / distributor proclaims that they will no longer be developing Vocaloids from here on out. If Sora had started production a couple years later, we would probably see her on either SynthV right now like the Kotonohas, or even CevioAI. Internet co's relationship with them too isn't looking good, and Crypton is well past moved on. Yamaha probably thinks that the old method of producing and distributing is no longer financially viable, which other voicebank devs probably disagree on, seeing as voicebank production has moved on without V5.

Sora was really obviously meant to be V4 (she was teased almost an entire year before V5 was announced), but AHS wasn't allowed to release her until V5 was out. Sure, you can mess with V5's parameters to smooth out transitions between banks, but it's pretty obvious that AHS didn't really have that in mind - otherwise Sora wouldn't have two banks. Any V3-V4 Vocaloid can utilize V5's parameters too - with V5's high price point and Sora's also high price point because of her two banks (you could just buy one though), it makes her... kinda inaccessible, and that's just a bit sad to me. People might say she's just unpopular, but I honestly think she got a bit screwed over.

(Also Gynoid bragged about the Meikas being "the first third party Vocaloids developed specifically for V5," so. that's a confirmation in itself that Sora wasn't intended for V5)

What I think is interesting here too, is that Sora V5 also comes with an additional downloadable custom Attack / Release pack, I have no idea what that entails, but I can imagine it at least includes original vocal fry and end breath recordings. Even though Sora wasn't intended for V5, at least they fitted her with V5's newest feature. I'm planning on getting her V5 this next year, probably once AHS drops another SynthV bank so I can save on combined box shipping, so I'll see then. I don't have a single V5 besides the 4 starter voices I temporarily installed once, so I'm looking forward to seeing if a native v5 vb can have actual good vocal fry options. I find the vocal fry attack options sound really bad for the vast majority of pre existing vocaloids, which sucks because its a pretty cool feature.

 

[Mika]

I'm not even sure if this is unpopular, but the biggest problem with Vocaloid is, and always was, that Yamaha doesn't talk to the other companies. They don't tell them if a new engine releases, unless they chose one specific company to make a release vocal. That's why we got releases shortly before the next engine that made some Vocaloids be kinda forgotten (I'm so sorry Chika and Mirai). Even if they tell the companies the next engne is coming, they are doing it way too late and then also don't tell them which features it will have. With Sora already being developed for V4, I don't see they would keep both of her voicebanks if AHS actually knew that XSY won't be in V5, unless Yamaha really wanted them to for whatever reason. Internet didn't know, which is why they were so damn furious. Just think about it, making so many Gumi voicebanks in the gen before to make her smooth and very functional with the new feature, spending so much money for all the voicebanks. And then Yamaha just takes that feature out??? I'd be angry too. Macne Nana's official account was surprised and kinda angry too. Yamaha doesn't talk with the companies and that was their downfall.

 

[Prism]

Oh sora has 2 banks because she was originally macne coco but somewhere in development was changed to sora

 

[Jisenku]

Oh sora has 2 banks because she was originally macne coco but somewhere in development was changed to sora

Had to look this up and now I'm shook

 

[Mika]

If that is actually true, then it's even more likely that no one knew that XSY won't be part of V5. Because why would Macne Nanas official twitter account be so surprised about it not being in V5, they would have known about Cocos and then Soras development, right? Only makes me wonder why exactly Coco was changed to Sora tho. Does anyone know?

 

[___]

If that is actually true

It is.

Only makes me wonder why exactly Coco was changed to Sora tho. Does anyone know?

My best guess would be because Macne Coco was deemed as racist, Macne Coco White who has pale skin complexion is described as "calm and hardworking" while Macne Coco Black who has darker skin complexion is described as "incapable of holding responsibilities and loses temper easily". It could be argued that Black just has a tan but it still wasn't a good look.

with V5's high price point and Sora's also high price point because of her two banks (you could just buy one though), it makes her... kinda inaccessible, and that's just a bit sad to me. People might say she's just unpopular, but I honestly think she got a bit screwed over.

Granted, the Meikas are tad bit more expensive than Sora and still managed to gain considerably larger fanbase than her.

 

[Rylitah]

Granted, the Meikas are tad bit more expensive than Sora and still managed to gain considerably larger fanbase than her.

Retail prices have Sora's two bank package as more expensive than the Meikas together. You're right still though; it's a bit semantic as the difference is only like $10, so clearly the price point was not as much of a factor as I expected.

For the record, I don't think Sora would've been an explosively popular vocal even had she been released on V4. I just think it's unfortunate what ended up happening.

 

[Prism]

I also think she was changed because of the possibility of offending people. I am also surprised no one has used sora as macne coco. Also surprised no one really used xsy between internet co or ah soft. I felt like being able to legally xsy with all the vocals of a company would influence my purchases to buy from one company. Like gumi I would totally see me wanting to get her to xsy her appends with chika or kokone or even lily.

 

[peaches2217]

Retail prices have Sora's two bank package as more expensive than the Meikas together. You're right still though; it's a bit semantic as the difference is only like $10, so clearly the price point was not as much of a factor as I expected.

For the record, I don't think Sora would've been an explosively popular vocal even had she been released on V4. I just think it's unfortunate what ended up happening.

She's also cheaper than them through Amazon Japan! Pardon, I agree that it's not really a factor, but I got curious and looked it up and found that interesting.

Also, I never knew she was supposed to be Coco. Knowing the, ah, controversy with Coco, I am glad she was made into her own character, but I can't help but wonder if she'd have more popularity if she had remained as originally intended... I guess the backlash would have outweighed any potential positives, though.

 

[Ivoivivoib]

I've got a lot of them.

mirai DX is the best game in the PJD series.
Fukase sounds like a new VB for Len.
I hate World is Mine. It's a good song and all, but I hear it at least 7 times a day and I'm going to go insane.
Kaito has a really bad voicebank. It's only good in like, 4 songs.
Luka is meh. I can't stand her voice sometimes, and she's also only good in like 4 songs.
None of the engloids have unique or interesting voices. I'm sorry they just dont
I want to punt Ryuto into the sun.

 

[Jisenku]

mirai DX is the best game in the PJD series.

You can faintly hear the screams of thousands of Project Diva Future Tone fans slowly rushing towards you.

You got to admit those chibi versions are ADORABLE! ~so cuuutee~

 

[ikaroll]

I hate World is Mine. It's a good song and all, but I hear it at least 7 times a day and I'm going to go insane.

GOD I HATE THAT SONG TOO. Imagine making a song that was really good, and a company continued milking it until people hated it. Couldn’t be me, honestly.

For my unpopular opinion of the day: I still think that Len is incredibly overrated

 

[Jisenku]

For my unpopular opinion of the day: I still think that Len is incredibly overrated

Here's my quip on that:

And for god sake stop dying in every song

 

[ikaroll]

Oh yeah, I just remembered my most unpopular opinion yet:

Robotic tuning/sounding vocals are better imo than realistic sounding vocals

Personally, calling them “singing robots” would make more sense if they SOUNDED like robots (or at least didn’t sound super smooth and uncanny)

Anyways yeah thanks for reading my opinion-

 

[Blue Of Mind]

Robotic tuning/sounding vocals are better imo than realistic sounding vocals

Personally, calling them “singing robots” would make more sense if they SOUNDED like robots (or at least didn’t sound super smooth and uncanny)

I think it depends on the song - some tracks call for less realistic vocals than others.

Probably not that unpopular, but I'll still say it anyway: Every time I hear IA English, even with the best tuning, I still think about how much better the voice would have sounded in Vocaloid or even SynthV, because it's impossible to completely get rid of CeVIO's engine noise. (This is also why I have mixed feelings on Yukari being on CeVIO AI so far - she's gained the CeVIO twang that was nonexistent in Vocaloid. The engine noise doesn't bother me too much with the original characters on CeVIO like Sasara, but with IA and Yukari, who already have Vocaloid VBs, it's obvious there's been a quality hit).

 

[cafenurse]

Probably not that unpopular, but I'll still say it anyway: Every time I hear IA English, even with the best tuning, I still think about how much better the voice would have sounded in Vocaloid or even SynthV, because it's impossible to completely get rid of CeVIO's engine noise. (This is also why I have mixed feelings on Yukari being on CeVIO AI so far - she's gained the CeVIO twang that was nonexistent in Vocaloid. The engine noise doesn't bother me too much with the original characters on CeVIO like Sasara, but with IA and Yukari, who already have Vocaloid VBs, it's obvious there's been a quality hit).

I have never been able to love IA english because the Cevio engine noise is so strong...:( I think for synths that START as cevios its forgivable, but once you've heard their voice cevio engine noise free, it's so hard to get used to them on the cevio engine. and im so sad because i was EXCITED for ia english

 

[Rolo]

As someone who really likes vocaloid ships (not only because of the voice combinations but also the interactions) shipping ruined the fandom and is really going to make me leave vocaloid for good one of these days. This fandom is just so obnoxious and annoying with the ship hate especially on Twitter which is just a toxic cess pool for vocafandom honestly. I’m tired of all the fighting and arguing I wish people could just see vocaloids as characters you could do whatever you want with.
—
Unrelated but after a few weeks I’m pretty bored with project Sekai and hope we get a real project diva soon. The gacha elements and some other bad choices (like uneven song and MV distribution, the other vocaloids basically being shafted, and the game getting really repetitive after awhile) is making me want to quit it.

 

[Blue Of Mind]

I have never been able to love IA english because the Cevio engine noise is so strong...:( I think for synths that START as cevios its forgivable, but once you've heard their voice cevio engine noise free, it's so hard to get used to them on the cevio engine. and im so sad because i was EXCITED for ia english

I'm still mad about IA English not being a Vocaloid, because I knew her voice wouldn't be as high quality in CeVIO compared to Vocaloid. (Plus, from a producer perspective, you can't really do bilingual Japanese and English IA songs because you can hear the differences between the two engines and it's really stark.)

I forgot to mention ONE in my first post - like Sasara, I forgive ONE's quality because 1st Place always intended her to be on CeVIO (as far as I'm aware). But on the other hand, I have started to wonder what ONE would sound like on Vocaloid or SynthV...

 

[DefiantKitsune]

shipping ruined the fandom

tbf this is by no means unique to vocaloid lol

 

[Rolo]

tbf this is by no means unique to vocaloid lol

Never said it was. Just pointing out something that’s been getting to me lately is all. Plus vocaloid has the unique situation of shipping wars really being something that shouldn’t exist because there’s no canon anything which makes it extra silly.