General Discussion Thread

[uncreepy]

For whom it may concern, vocaloid.com will be down February 19 from 10:00-11:00 am

Yamaha's Twitter has been dead since December. But they've done hour-long server maintenance a few times before and absolutely nothing changed visibly for users visiting the site. Actually, the only time there was server maintenance and something significant happened after was when V5 came out, but we knew it was happening because they announced several products being discontinued a couple weeks prior. (And the maintenance was much longer than 1 hour for that case.)

Part of me wanted this to be something, but the maintenance is only an hour and I feel like at this point if there were to be a new Vocaloid, the company producing it would have let us know (if it were a new Vocaloid, it most likely would be one of the surviving/active companies, in my humble opinion).

 

[peaches2217]

Yamaha's Twitter has been dead since December. But they've done hour-long server maintenance a few times before and absolutely nothing changed visibly for users visiting the site. Actually, the only time there was server maintenance and something significant happened after was when V5 came out, but we knew it was happening because they announced several products being discontinued a couple weeks prior. (And the maintenance was much longer than 1 hour for that case.)

Part of me wanted this to be something, but the maintenance is only an hour and I feel like at this point if there were to be a new Vocaloid, the company producing it would have let us know (if it were a new Vocaloid, it most likely would be one of the surviving/active companies, in my humble opinion).

Yeah, I kinda figured... it's still fun to hope every now and then I guess. Ah well.

 

[cafenurse]

i was mostly posting it as a "dont plan on buying a vocaloid at this specific day and time i guess" ive kinda lost all hope in anything new happening. very sad.

 

[Leon]

Sad that Yamaha's practically abandoned the brand like this. Again, I don't think the vocalsynth fandom will ever die, but it seems like only a 3rd party company will release a loid at this rate, and if it's true that Zero-G doesn't have a dev kit, Internet isn't interested, and Crypton is moving on, then it's all up to AHS, who seem perfectly happy to work on Voiceroid for now. Although there were some conspiracy rumors about Yuzuru's slim chances of getting a Vocaloid release if his Voiceroid does as well as it sounds like it might. :')
Places tinfoil hat back on head

 

[Blue Of Mind]

I feel that Vocaloid is dying, but other synths are rising to try and take its place (including Piapro Studio. You do have to wonder if/when the Cryptonloids permanently move away from Vocaloid, the Vocaloid fandom will kinda die with it, because Miku has always been the cash cow of the program.)

I'm really not happy with how Yamaha has treated V5. It's almost a non-presence in the fandom (I only really see the starter banks and the Meikas being used at this point), especially when you consider lots of producers still use V3 and V4.

 

[hamano]

I've always been skeptical about the "Vocaloid is dying" ramble, but this time it's more real. Crypton, the most important of the voicebank developers, has taken it's own way and others seem to be passive or looking into alternative softwares. The competition Vocaloid is facing is tougher than before, so Yamaha would really need to up their game or leave Vocaloid hanging (which, I hate to say, seems what they're doing currently). And if I may say so, V5 wasn't really needed yet, most companies using the Vocaloid engine seemed happy to stick with V4. I admit I haven't looked so closely into what upgrades the V5 engine brought, but from my perception there wasn't anything that would spark huge interest fromthe companies and consumers in the end.

All hope is not lost, but what Yamaha needs is more 3rd party voicebanks for Vocaloid5. And I believe they'd need V5 versions of existing Vocaloids, these days when the biggest voice synth boom is over and competition is out there, brand new voicebanks have a tougher time commanding attention, whereas generally a new version of an established vb is easier to sell.

 

[Rylitah]

on yuzuru becoming a vocaloid

The chances of Yuzuru (or any Voiceroid that isn't already a Vocaloid) becoming a Vocaloid are basically nonexistent -- he's not AHS' character, he's AI Inc's. He's owned by the same company that owns Kotonoha Akane and Aoi, and their incredible popularity (they have the most original songs out of every Voiceroid at this moment) didn't result in a Vocaloid product, so there's basically no chance of Yuzuru getting one either. Not to mention that AI Inc. is the company that owns AI Talk, the engine that Voiceroid runs on... it'd be kinda weird, I think, to have a character that shows off their own product perfectly to run on a different product not by them for something different, but that's just me.

AHS is more than aware of Singing Voiceroid and actively encourages it (they namedropped the creator on one of their livestreams and told him to keep doing his best) - I think they're satisfied with that, aha. If you want a Voiceroid to sing, you'll have to just buy the Voiceroid and use Kotonosync rather than wait for a Vocaloid release that'll almost certainly never happen. For Voiceroids that also become Vocaloids, we knew from their initial announcements that they were getting an additional Vocaloid/Voiceroid product - nothing like that with Yuzuru, so I would not keep your hopes up for it orz

The whole "Vocaloid is dying" thing is something that annoyed me for a long time, though I can't really deny it now. As a software, unless Yamaha is planning on something huge, it's basically stagnated. No new releases in almost a year is... sad. While I don't really want the rush of V3 again where it seemed like there was always a new Vocaloid releasing every other week, I thought V4 was a pretty nice time, release wise. Either way, we'll just keep going on with what we're best at - the community's only this way because of everyone creating amazing things with what they have. Even though releases have stagnated, there's no reason to stop. It's exciting to see what other synths/competitors end up doing, too. Now's the time to really show off what they've got now that everyone's much more open and receptive to alternative synths.

 

[Leon]

-snipped spoiler-

Ooooh I didn't know all that. Thank you for continually keeping us in the loop about Voiceroid matters!! That's really interesting! Super cool that they namedropped the Kotonosync guy haha.

Anyway, I always hated the "Vocaloid is dying!!!" people as well, but I really do agree that it seems Yamaha may let it "die". I don't think it's all as world-ending as that. Vocaloid still makes money, so at least for now there's no danger of them retiring the website or anything. And even if a new Vocaloid never comes out again, we have tons of up and coming voice synths like Synth V and CeVIO that are already close to or even edging past the benefits/quality that Vocaloid offers. Then there's passionate fans like Ryli and many others who use Voiceroids and make them sing sometimes. Even UTAU was supposed to be getting an update relatively soon, right? And afaik most Vocaloid fans are also, at least in passing, fans of other synths too. People who love and adore Vocaloids will always be around. The collective vocalsynth fandom will never die :)

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Everyone has pretty much already said their thoughts, and I absolutely agree the future for vocal synths is still very bright. I want to add that if Crypton's new engine does well, maybe we can expect comapnies like Internet (or even some new faces) to eventually join up and have their synths become Piapro-loids while developing entirely new synths too.

 

[ikaroll]

And even if a new Vocaloid never comes out again, we have tons of up and coming voice synths like Synth V and CeVIO that are already close to or even edging past the benefits/quality that Vocaloid offers.

I honestly wouldn’t be disappointed if new Vocaloids didn’t come out. Like you said, SynthV and CeVIO are on the rise, and there’s also UTAU which is getting new voicebanks nearly every week. There’s so many vocalsynths that the fandom won’t die off if Vocaloid does end up not getting anymore updates

 

[TheStarPalace]

When people outside the community used to say Vocaloid is dying it usually meant they thought the user base was dying out, which isn't really the case. I can't speak for anyone else, but the statement annoyed me because it seemed like they were just ignoring the new talent (whether it be producers, artists, cover makers, or anyone else involved in vocal synth music production) and making vocaloid nothing but "that nerdy thing I was into in grade school."
Vocaloid dying out due to other programs being made and Yamaha being less supportive is totally different from new songs ceasing to be made.

 

[DefiantKitsune]

To be honest, CeVio and SynthV aren't really getting banks either right now, and only a handful of third party devs seem interested in either.

I think companies have lost interest in making voicebanks due to new voices rarely getting attention. Either that or everyone is waiting for the deep learning updates (for all three) to make a move.

 

[cafenurse]

im just excited about piapro thats really all ive got to look forward to

 

[peaches2217]

I think there’s absolutely hope for new VBs for SynthV and CeVIO! Quadimension’s Taobao has said in multiple places that they plan on either creating or assisting in the distribution of new banks in Chinese, Japanese, and English. CeVIO just had a beta testing period for CeVIO 7, so who’s to say we aren’t about to see some new banks for them?

The reason I’m not so optimistic about Vocaloid is that Yamaha hasn’t been anywhere near as involved as the creators of SynthV (and Quadimension) and CeVIO (and 1st PLACE). Once Meika and Mikoto dropped, they kinda just... went silent. Maybe I just haven’t been following closely enough, though.

I’m of the belief that, if Piapro does well (which, it’s Hatsune Miku, it probably will do well), more companies will gain revived interest in vocalsynths. That’s my hope, anyway.

 

[Leon]

I'm p sure there are updates in the works for Quadimensions's synthV's, once its update is out, right? Idk about CeVIO in the near future, but they're doing testing for their deep learning, and I have high hopes!

Miku NT is inevitably gonna do well, and I'm confident we'll see all 6 Cryptons become Piapros in the next years, and then they may finally move on to CV04 etc, and who knows about if they'll let 3rd parties make Piapros too!

It may not look super active rn, but I do believe the synth development is happening. Just that, unless they've been super top secret about it, I don't think Yamaha's doing any of it :')

 

[DefiantKitsune]

Yamaha does have a deep learning project in the works, Vocaloid AI. Idk much about it but it is like a thing.

the problem with assuming miku nt doing well will revive interest is no other jp synth will ever do as well as miku. The Vocaloid rush was partially because of Miku, but I doubt even Gumi made close to Mikus sales.

 

[Leon]

Totally get what you're saying. I do think that if nothing else, Crypton will move on and finally create another character, once they're on their own editor with all their characters updated, where they can release patches and do changes as they please. I think at the very least there's a quite good chance other companies will be interested, if Piapro NT takes off. We can hope!!

Tbh I'd like to see Gumi's sales figures compared to Miku. In terms of popularity, I really feel Gumi and Miku were the two with the most natural "IT" factor, and I wonder if that's reflected in sales (while of course accounting for differences in time of release, etc)

 

[Prism]

There is a reason why gumi has the most voice banks. I hope crypton expand their voice bank development division and license it out I could see them becoming the new Yamaha. Also is there a reason why crypton haven't made tts for Miku and co.

 

[DefiantKitsune]

on yuzuru becoming a vocaloid

The chances of Yuzuru (or any Voiceroid that isn't already a Vocaloid) becoming a Vocaloid are basically nonexistent -- he's not AHS' character, he's AI Inc's. He's owned by the same company that owns Kotonoha Akane and Aoi, and their incredible popularity (they have the most original songs out of every Voiceroid at this moment) didn't result in a Vocaloid product, so there's basically no chance of Yuzuru getting one either. Not to mention that AI Inc. is the company that owns AI Talk, the engine that Voiceroid runs on... it'd be kinda weird, I think, to have a character that shows off their own product perfectly to run on a different product not by them for something different, but that's just me.

I wasn't aware they were owned by AI Talk, but tbh I assumed Kotonoha's getting a Vocaloid would be very difficult to accomplish-
Their only real distinction from one another is their accent, and that wouldn't be very noticeable singing, so the point of having both would be moot

This particular issue does not apply to Yuzuru, obviously. (Also, Zunko's Vocaloid wasn't announced till after her Voiceroid so it's not IMPOSSIBLE)

 

[uncreepy]

There is a reason why gumi has the most voice banks. I hope crypton expand their voice bank development division and license it out I could see them becoming the new Yamaha. Also is there a reason why crypton haven't made tts for Miku and co.

Yeah, cause they want to do everything themselves and they are developing Cherry Pie (vocoder), which I guess it going to force everyone who wants them to talk to record their own voice, get it converted to a Cryptonloid, tweak it through tuning, and generally have to do annoying hard work instead of just pasting a paragraph into a Crypton version of AITalk. : / So annoying!