As far as commercial synths go, VOCALOID6.
I already had a low opinion of VOCALOID5, given that
- V5 suddenly introduced long loading times, somehow. And any little change will cause a whole track to reload from scratch.
- It also had significant compatibility issues with some PCs.
- The interface is glitchy and has a bunch of stupid little bugs I always run into that make it a nightmare to use
- It pointlessly removed key features, such as custom dictionaries and XSY ( rendering some voicebanks unable to use their main gimmick ( Megpoid V4 ), making them significantly harder to use ( Megpoid English ), and even making some voicebanks that they STILL SELL completely useless ( ARSloid’s “Extension Voicebanks” ) ).
- The only benefits it added were some new/slightly improved parameters, a few mixing effects built-in, and Attack/Release effects. The latter two also completely suck.
Then VOCALOID6 came around, and made these issues much worse.
- VOCALOID6 voicebanks are EXTREMELY inflexible and can’t use ANY of the parameters that previous generations could ( V6 does have a Gender Parameter now, but it took a FULL YEAR for them to implement one as BASIC as that ). What’s worse is that they HAVE parameters they can add into V6 ( from Beta Studio ), and they just don’t feel like it.
- Long loading times are here to stay.
- Compatibility issues are even worse now.
- V6 has most of the same bugs as V5 had, and now adds even MORE.
- Key features still missing. Some made even worse now given that XLS is now a thing - which, while XLS is a net positive overall… why is the lyric input LIKE THAT??? To say nothing of the fact that they’re STILL releasing voicebanks that would benefit from an XSY-like feature or vocal modes ( Otomachi Una V6, Galaco V6, AI Megpoid and Megpoid SOLID, etc. ), and they just don’t care in spite of multiple third-party devs complaining about it ( not the least of which being Internet Co., who I’d wager is Yamaha’s main cash cow for the time being ). Mind you they ALREADY HAVE these features in previous VOCALOID generations AND in Beta Studio???
- Who designed this UI?? One of the few things that V5 did decently well was make a UI that was more aesthetically pleasing, and ( arguably ) more friendly to navigate for non-VOCALOID users. With V6, I can never find anything I need.
And as if all that weren’t bad enough, most V6’s that have had previous VOCALOID releases just sound like their older VOCALOID voicebanks, but with heavier engine noise, and significantly less flexibility. I’d argue that without XLS and VOCALOChanger, they are genuinely WORSE versions of their previous counterparts.
Like, I don’t understand how given that V5 was basically dormant for the entirety of its existence, what Yamaha was even doing during all that time that allowed VOCALOID6 to be so utterly lacking. VOCALOID6 basically made me completely lose faith in the integrity of VOCALOID and Yamaha as a whole in their ability to make decisions that aren’t either completely anti-consumer, or just plain stupid.
AND it’s significantly more expensive than its much better competitors. Even WITH the default vocals.
Take Ci-Chan’s and Uge’s “Starter Packs”, which only contains Ci-Chan or Uge respectively, and the V6 editor, with none of the default Yamaha vocals. This is currently the cheapest way to purchase the VOCALOID editor in any way without looking secondhand.
Ci-Chan and Uge are about $90 USD, which on its own, is already about $20-$40 more than the majority of SynthV1 voicebanks, give or take. The Starter Pack is around $198USD. Subtract the price of $90, and you get the editor being valued at around $108 if it were to be sold completely on its own, which is almost twice the amount that the SynthV(1) Pro editor is sold for. Even moreso is you use this same equation with other Starter Packs, such as AI Megpoid.
As if that weren’t enough, buying the SynthV Pro editor also allows you to use Mai, who is completely free with the purchase of the Pro editor. To say nothing of the Feature-Limited Trial libraries, or lite voicebanks.
And then there’s SV2, which is over 50% more expensive than SV1, and is STILL cheaper than V6.
So to recap
SynthV(1) - $60 USD + comes with a free vocal
SynthV2 - $100 USD + comes with a free vocal you get to choose between 3 like a starter Pokemon.
VOCALOID6 - Hypothetically, $108-$119 standalone. Can’t be purchased without a voicebank, which adds to the price; the lowest option being $198.
It’s not a value thing like some claim, V6 is just terrible.
