Unpopular Opinions

[Scarlet Illusion]

I know the whole "Vocaloid fandom is dead" thing is pretty touchy for some people and some people can get really worked up over it, so thank you everyone for keeping things civil.
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An unpopular opinion that I've been meaning to share for a long time:
Tei is not a soft/weak vocal. When I think soft vocals, I think of a voicebank like Momone Momo--that's soft to me. I realize a lot people will probably think I'm biased 'cuz this is Tei we're talking about, but I've worked with her extensively for the past 2-3 years and I've learned she's not as soft as people say she is. I think she's closer to a "normal"/neutral voicebank and doesn't completely lack strength. Ultimately, I think it boils down to a matter of knowing the ins and outs of using a particular vocal and the engine they're on.

Elaborating a bit

I've also seen people say since she's soft, she can't sing heavy metal, rock, etc., however, I disagree! I think whether or not Tei (and other vocals of that type) can sing a particular song depends not on the genre, but rather the arrangement of the song. I know from experience I have had no trouble making her sing an Utsu-P song like "I thought I was an Angel", but I've had difficulty making her sing something like Abstract Nonsense, which has more of belting chorus and some really high notes... (though, it's entirely possible that was a lack of skill on my part since I attempted that in my early tuning days...)

Examples to backup my claim

 

[___]

I think it's common misconception you need shouty-powerful vocals for rock, grounded but raspy and husky vocal is pretty popular voicetype for the rock genre which you can very easily push Tei towards. I have rock cover in the works with her, I have my Mt and Mb flags on negative numbers juhygtfr

However I despise when people try forcing Tei into being a power vocal:p imo doesn't work in her favor

 

[lIlI]

terrible confession

I can't take Miku seriously in most of her songs because she sounds too cute and baby. i apologise for this

 

[ikaroll]

in most of her songs because she sounds too cute and baby

You just summed up my one problem with a lot of 2007-2010 era Vocaloid songs with Miku, thank you

 

[Leon]

I guess my unpopular opinion re: "Vocaloid is dead!!" is that... yeah, probably? Commercially, anyway. And that's OK? Yamaha's doing stuff with the software on their own, and may someday release another vocal, but even if another voicebank is never publicly released, it's not a big deal. We have SO many Vocaloids, and the vast majority of them are still being supported and sold. And the fandom is separate from the commercial product anyway. The fandom isn't going to go anywhere. It's still going strong, and it will continue to. Especially since other synths are on the rise, and the Vocaloid fandom has really turned into the vocalsynth fandom (which I think is a very cool thing, tbh).

So yeah, whenever I hear someone say Vocaloid is dead, I'm like, sure. AHS and Crypton have moved editors, Internet isn't interested, Zero-G and PFX are out of the game. The Chinese Vocaloids are the only ones that seem active, and after their V5 updates it may go radio silent. Who knows. But that's...... not the big dramatic event that naysay-ers like to make it out to be. The fandom isn't going anywhere, and there are other softwares on the rise who rival and even surpass Vocaloid in certain aspects, so we're not hurting for potential future releases. All is well :)

 

[peaches2217]

I guess my unpopular opinion re: "Vocaloid is dead!!" is that... yeah, probably? Commercially, anyway. And that's OK? Yamaha's doing stuff with the software on their own, and may someday release another vocal, but even if another voicebank is never publicly released, it's not a big deal. We have SO many Vocaloids, and the vast majority of them are still being supported and sold. And the fandom is separate from the commercial product anyway. The fandom isn't going to go anywhere. It's still going strong, and it will continue to. Especially since other synths are on the rise, and the Vocaloid fandom has really turned into the vocalsynth fandom (which I think is a very cool thing, tbh).

So yeah, whenever I hear someone say Vocaloid is dead, I'm like, sure. AHS and Crypton have moved editors, Internet isn't interested, Zero-G and PFX are out of the game. The Chinese Vocaloids are the only ones that seem active, and after their V5 updates it may go radio silent. Who knows. But that's...... not the big dramatic event that naysay-ers like to make it out to be. The fandom isn't going anywhere, and there are other softwares on the rise who rival and even surpass Vocaloid in certain aspects, so we're not hurting for potential future releases. All is well :)

​

 

[Blue Of Mind]

Probably not an unpopular opinion, but I'm actually glad the fandom has matured and calmed down (to the point of turning into the general vocal synth fandom). I feel that the Vocaloid fandom back in the late 2000s/early 2010s had a bad reputation of being full of weeaboos, but now Vocaloid isn't a trendy fandom anymore, we've seen a lot more focus on the actual music side of things rather than typical fandom stuff like shipping. The weebs have moved on, while people like us have stuck with Vocaloid (and now a multitude of other vocal synths), and are just enjoying the general chillness of the current fandom. Excluding VocaTwitter, of course. ;)

 

[Prism]

Been thinking about this for a while. I think just because vocaloid as software isn't getting new "content" in voice banks don't mean it's dead. It still has a ready available back catalog of 202 voices (yes I did count them all) and they have been working on ai and Charlie and trying to use the software in other ways. The fandom side is still strong. I think some might be saying the new vocaloid don't get songs but have they checked Nico Nico there a lot of underrated songs that haven't been re uploaded to YouTube. I also feel that the vocaloid fandom has changed into the vocal synth fandom because now we really do have strong competitors like cevio, emvoice, synth v, Xiaoice, deep vocal and utau. With maghni ai and ai voices singing voices on the horizon. Competition is good and leads to innovation which is good. Vocaloid has been kinda stagnant since v4 so it's great to see new takes on vocal synths. We are also getting our first crowed funded English voice bank hopefully with Solaris. This is probably the best the fandom has been since 2016. I'm super hopefully for the future.

 

[riz_lady]

Been thinking about this for a while. I think just because vocaloid as software isn't getting new "content" in voice banks don't mean it's dead. It still has a ready available back catalog of 202 voices (yes I did count them all) and they have been working on ai and Charlie and trying to use the software in other ways. The fandom side is still strong. I think some might be saying the new vocaloid don't get songs but have they checked Nico Nico there a lot of underrated songs that haven't been re uploaded to YouTube. I also feel that the vocaloid fandom has changed into the vocal synth fandom because now we really do have strong competitors like cevio, emvoice, synth v, Xiaoice, deep vocal and utau. With maghni ai and ai voices singing voices on the horizon. Competition is good and leads to innovation which is good. Vocaloid has been kinda stagnant since v4 so it's great to see new takes on vocal synths. We are also getting our first crowed funded English voice bank hopefully with Solaris. This is probably the best the fandom has been since 2016. I'm super hopefully for the future.

It's actually pretty neat seeing how the fandom evolved. Unfortunately I wasn't around for the earlier years (I was like 3 years old in 2009 ) but I've stayed up many a late night looking at older stuff. It's so interesting to see how it all kinda branched out as more vocal synth stuff started getting made.

I think that Vocaloid, in itself, is on its way out, but at the same time it's still going strong in the mind of the fandom (sorry if that doesn't really make sense oof). I doubt it'll lose steam any time soon.

 

[Prism]

I know this might be a lot but why is neru and haku still a thing in 2021? Like please neru and haku fans please explain why

 

[riz_lady]

I know this might be a lot but why is neru and haku still a thing in 2021? Like please neru and haku fans please explain why

Do you mean the fanloids? If so, I don't really mind them. If I may, they are AGGRESSIVELY 2009-esque

 

[Blue Of Mind]

I know this might be a lot but why is neru and haku still a thing in 2021? Like please neru and haku fans please explain why

Presumably because they're still included as starter models in MMD. I've noticed other old-school fanloids like the genderbends (Mikuo, Kaiko, etc.), Zatsune Miku, those rainbow Kaito recolours, etc. have fallen off the radar for the most part, but not Neru and Haku because of MMD videos.

 

[peaches2217]

I know this might be a lot but why is neru and haku still a thing in 2021? Like please neru and haku fans please explain why

To be fair, they were popular enough to be in Project Diva. I was around during the V2 era, and as a result they’re highly nostalgic for me. I still love them.

 

[Deleted member 6215]

I always like older songs more than newer ones(and no, its not because of nostalgia for them. A lot of them just sound better to me...)

 

[riz_lady]

I always like older songs more than newer ones(and no, its not because of nostalgia for them. A lot of them just sound better to me...)

I kinda agree with you on that one. Perhaps it was because Vocaloid was something only really used by serious musicians back in the early days?

 

[sketchesofpayne]

I kinda agree with you on that one. Perhaps it was because Vocaloid was something only really used by serious musicians back in the early days?

It's because only the good stuff is still around. All the mediocre and crappy stuff fell into obscurity or maybe even got deleted. Also, only good stuff got reposted from NicoNico to YouTube.

 

[spiderfriend]

not sure how unpopular this really is but wow, synthv is SUPER underrated. like, utau is more simple but a bit of a pain to mix, vocaloid is easy to mix and manage but the parameters are a lot more tricky imo, and synthv is like a nice happy medium between them, yknow? always comes out sounding smooth as butter in my experience and deserves a lot more appreciation

(also side note i am SUUUPER EXCITED FOR SOLARIS SHE LOOKS SO COOOOOL :DD)

 

[Rylitah]

I think modern Vocaloid songs actually have a much more polished and professional sound - definitely by more experienced musicians. The nostalgia factor probably comes from the fact that in the early years, Vocaloid was little more than a passion project for those composers, just doing them because they liked to - this isn't to say that modern Vocaloid producers aren't the same, but I think a lot of them especially now just start off with Vocaloid/vocal synths in general to build up a following, then they go pro. It's not really a good or bad thing, it just comes down to preference on what you like to hear.

I like both older and newer songs a lot, and I think the difference in sound quality between the two eras is really fascinating. (Also, modern Vocaloid songs regularly get millions and millions of views now, so it also appeals to a wider audience now, haha)

unrelatedly

This isn't related to any of the previous conversations, but I'm actually a bit... concerned by how many Western fans are demanding English synths from companies these days. With the TOKYO6 teaser of a new character, a lot of the Western responses were predicting English Rikka or at least a new character that could speak English... with zero reason for either of those to be happening. I know people really just want more English synths, and there's nothing wrong with that at all and it's exciting when one does get announced, but demanding or just straight up expecting it from companies that have never even shown an interest in it prior is just kinda weird to me.

 

[peaches2217]

This isn't related to any of the previous conversations, but I'm actually a bit... concerned by how many Western fans are demanding English synths from companies these days. With the TOKYO6 teaser of a new character, a lot of the Western responses were predicting English Rikka or at least a new character that could speak English... with zero reason for either of those to be happening. I know people really just want more English synths, and there's nothing wrong with that at all and it's exciting when one does get announced, but demanding or just straight up expecting it from companies that have never even shown an interest in it prior is just kinda weird to me.

This is sorta related, but I feel like a looooot of people who demand English synths from companies that don't really do English synths are... well, they tend to be very picky, entitled, even. They want English synths from companies who have never really done English, or companies who target primarily to pre-existing synth users and otaku and such, and when they get them: "Ugh, not like that, I want a white American accented English voicebank from this Japanese company!" Reactions so far to Maki have me pleasantly surprised for that very reason. I was expecting the fandom to be a lot more divided than it is over her. I truly hope it's a sign that we as a collective whole are growing out of that entitlement, but that's been my observation thus far.

 

[Blue Of Mind]

This is sorta related, but I feel like a looooot of people who demand English synths from companies that don't really do English synths are... well, they tend to be very picky, entitled, even. They want English synths from companies who have never really done English, or companies who target primarily to pre-existing synth users and otaku and such, and when they get them: "Ugh, not like that, I want a white American accented English voicebank from this Japanese company!"

As a Brit, I feel very detached from the wider fandom demands of American accented VBs, since Zero G already covered my British accented niche years ago. ^^; If anything, I would prefer English banks with more unique accents - just looking at my home country, Scottish, Welsh and Irish accented VBs would be really fresh ideas.