User blog:Angel Emfrbl/How my top/least 10 Vocaloids stand

Okay Jan is the month I seem to be getting my long-term issues off my chest so I'll get a few more issues off my chest.

My next issue is just on my top ten vocaloids/least Vocaloids. Basically I want an excuse to say why I like/dislike a Vocaloid and as vocaloid is what I enjoy talking about these days... Why not. Any excuse.

Do note; when I say I prefer English, its not bias, its I can hear, as a native speaker, how good or bad a Vocaloid is. I find it uncomfortable when it comes to vocaloids of other languages, because I tend to question if I'm hearing what a native speaker hears, and it bothers me not enough to enjoy it. It bothers me whenever I listen to a Sonika song that I start listening out for her little plucks, o its not something unique to language, its just paranoia.

Note; a vocaloid tends to become my favourite for one of 3 reasons;
 * 1) They sing in English (I'm a fan of English vocaloids)
 * 2) they have a stand out voice
 * 3) they are male, because I like a good male vocalist more then a female one - always have.

Bonus; if I like the results.

I have no real criteria for the top ten least favourite vocals, except any that set off that ringing in my ears... Any vocaloid that does it goes straight on the list, no holds par.

Also; this is based on singing results, I'll rate designs another time.

And remember; this is 'my opinion not someone elses, you won't agree with my lsit and I'm happy to always read others' lists if they want to make a blog entry on it. sometimes this makes me change my mind on certain things as others' bring up a issue I'd never have considered. I have my tastes in music, others' have theirs. Rememebr, I'm just getting something off my chest here, nothing more.

Top 10

 * 1) Tonio; Big Al used to be my favorite Vocaloid. Then Tonio came along hitting all the thing I wanted in a Vocaloid and he has stayed at no.1 since.  Like all Vocaloids, I have issues even with my favourite Vocaloid... Its difficult to find decent songs because he isn't one of the easy vocaloids to use or make sound good and honestly... Only a few have pulled it off.  But...   Tonio hits all 3 of my major criteria.... Plus when used right.  :-D
 * 2) Big Al. When I got back into Vocaloid, Big Al was the first of my 4-Vocaloid I bought.  And he was no.1 until Tonio came along.  He ticks all 3 of my criterias, but doesn't have as good of results as Tonio does when used right. As I once said; "Tonio is a better singer, Big Al is a better Vocaloid".  :-/
 * Starting with this one, there is no real order and my list changes. But next is another male Vocaloid, Gackpoid.  The Gackpoid software hits 2 of my criterias, but I can live with it not hitting that third criteria because I like the voice a lot.  In many respects, the vocal results, when used right, are more appealing then Tonio, its just its not in English.  And sadly... It looks like English might not happen any time soon.
 * Megpoid; Gumi usually is about the same level as Gackpoid, but these days... Her voice is hitting only 1 of the 3 criteria I like in vocaloids, since now we're getting vocaloids that sound like, or at least have similarities, to Gumi. Basically, Gumi is somewhere between Meiko and Miku in terms of her voice, and sat somewhere in the middle of the two. But now as V3's gone on, we're getting more Vocaloids that are starting to encroach on gumi's territory and Gumi's no longer standing out as much.  She is higher up though, because I like her English still, even if its not a great vocal overall.  :-/
 * Avanna; Avanna I like because it shows that English-built Vocaloid vocals are improving, her closet tone clones are Sonika and Luka - and she is better then either.  She hits two of the criteria I have for vocaloids and sounds good.  And this actually bothers me... With Sonika I actually could go on for some times on how I don't like her voice... With Avanna I'm like "yeah she is a good vocal".  Much like Meiko... And this actually puts Avanna lower on my favoruites list.  I actually find sometimes not being abe to really talk about a vocaloid means that you don't tend to come up with much of a strong feelings about them and you set more on "neutral" then "love/hate". :-/
 * VY2; like Avanna, its a voice that does what you want ti to do and you can't fault it on this. Unlike Meiko, its still got some stand-out qualities about it.  Its reliable, to sound good, is a little boring at times like Avanna because it has less things about it to discuss... and if they ever make a English version it might see VY2 go up, though I don't know if we ever will see a English version.
 * 7 down, 3 to go. Bruno.  For now there is only one Spanish male, which means he is currently ticking off two of my 3 cafeterias.  I enjoy his voice.
 * Kaito. the only CFM I like.  I've always enjoyed his vocals, can't say much about it. He hits all three criteria these days an I'd place him higher - if I didn't prevfer Gackpoid's results over Kaito's.
 * Nana; so you took my favourite non-Vocaloid singer and made her a vocaloid. Win!  I honestly don't know why I like Nana because traditionally she hits all the things I'm not so keen on vocals, yet I've never flat out hated her.  Instead, the things that turn me off of certain vocaloids make me like Nana.  She is an exception amongst Exceptions.  I just wish I could take her English seriously, as at the moment... when it screws up I smirk too much.  which I've never done for any other Japanese -> english vocal.  Whats going on, who knows?
 * Last vocaloid... Prima. Ia is the closet vocal to Prima, yet when they sing you can still pick out the voices.  If she had been female like her partner Tonio... She would have been higher.

At this point there are no V1's left on my list of favourites except Kaito, its not I've disliked them over time, its other vocaloids are coming out and pushing them down. I still like them as I did before, equally as well, its just I've got some new Vocaloids I really like. If Leon, Lola and Miriam get a update, theres potential for them to go up on the list as Lola "close", maybe about 11-13th place at least.

Nana pushed VY1 off my list. :-/

Least 10
This is actually a lot harder to pull a full ten on, because I like Vocaloid... therefore a vocal has to stand out exceptionally to make me not go wild on them.


 * Hatsune Miku; as mentioned, some Vocaloids set off the ringing in my ears... Miku is one of those that can. I've enjoyed her more since her Appends, because the tone changes meant there are now some songs I can listen to.  But I've got the history now and there are still times I'm worried Miku will set it off, and this prevents full enjoyment.
 * Sonika; if I was to agree this into an order, Sonika would be no.1, or close to it. I own Sonika... Which makes things WORST as I know first hand what she does and doesn't do. And this is the big issue with Sonika...first hand experience with a vocaloid leaves a bigger impression.
 * Kagamine Rin; Unlike Miku... Her Append don't save her. Another Vocaloid that traditionally sets off ringing, if she goes too high that is.
 * Kagamine Len; Don't sell me a female voice as a male, because I'm not going to ever view this vocaloid's voice as masculine. Its a female vocal, not a male vocal.  and this actually puts Len above Rin on my books, as I feel like someone is trying to sell me a turtle when I asked for a tortoise... Otherwise aside see Kagamine rin.
 * Ryuto; I have sympathy for him - but again... You trying to sell me a turtle when I asked for a tortoise. Yeah it sounds odd, its voice acted, yes it stands out against all other Vocaloids... But this pushes the limits voice-wise on what you can get away with, and asks the question of why a vocaloid was made.
 * over half way - Tone Rion. She sounds nasally, really nasally.  Maybe this is some definition of "cute" but its not mine.  She is amongst my least favorite because I don't find her voice personally appealing. It sounds like she is full of snot, thats all I focus on when I hear her singing.  I feel, like Ryuto, this one is one of those Vocaloids that brings to question about why certain Vocaloids were made.  The difference is at least I feel like their selling you a product that is what it is, a tortoise not a turtle. And that makes it better then Ryuto.
 * Piko- Piko is a male, its just I prefer more mature sounding vocals. Its why Yuu is my least favourite of Zola Project. Piko's the only Sony vocaloid and before he went on sale, he was a messy demo release.  Basically, the vocal doesn't appeal to me and Soy's handling means I'm left forever at odds with Piko on how I feel.  and this puts any enjoyment off of him,
 * SeeU - another Vocaloid spoilt by the company that tossed it out. SBS - release that English vocal and SeeU comes off my list.  you took that tortoise and you painted with black and white stripes then said "look now its a zebra as well"...  No its still a tortoise... If you have a zebra, maybe I'll buy it, but the thing I'm hear to buy now has stripes on it and looks silly...
 * 2 left. Galaco. At best a "average" Vocaloid, the over hyping of her voice has left discomfort.  Instead of leaving her as a reward for the Producers who could make themselves met a goal, she got the one thing that made her "special" amongst other vocaloids and is now a regular release.  And despite all the hype, nothing has changed in terms of voice.  We have similar vocals to Galaco, and aside form the fact she now has two vocals within the upcoming package, she still sounds like another Meiko Vocaloid but unlike Meiko... I just don't feel like I want to like Galaco for some reason.
 * Luka english - I'm not a fan of Luka, but her English voice itself is one of the most over hyped English vocals and both fans and CFM try to make out its a great thing when its not. Its worst then Sonika overall, and if not for the fact Sonika is one of the buggiest Vocaloids, Luka would be the least great English vocaloid.  But she lacks the level of bugs Sonika has, thus is, despite being a basic vocal, doing her job, which means she isn't on Sonika's level at all.  So she isn't like Len, she is a tortoise, not a turtle, its just without her Japanese vocal, Luka is a tortoise that has nothing fancy about it. It is *just* a tortoise... :-/

Its weird how I compared everything to selling a tortoise, but it was the first thing that came to mind to explain the situation with Len and once I came up with it... I kept reusing it.

The "Meiko" factor
I use Meiko as the "standard" for Vocaloids. To be on par with Meiko measn the vocaloids is bang splat right in the middle as the "average" Vocaloid. Its not good or bad, its just "standard". Its to give you an idea of how I work. If its better then Meiko, I like it, if its worst I'm not liking it. But if its a Meiko-like vocal, it does what it does well... But thats it. But I know CFM fans, or at least Meiko fans, want her to be something special. Listen, its not always about standing out, Give me Meiko over Ryuto any day. Its odd because I've felt the need to say this based on how people reacted to me saying some stuff about Meiko recently. Its not a matter of quality of software, just how I judge Vocaloids. :-/

Basically these are vocals who, deserve mentioning but I don't think their belong on either list and are somewhere in the middle.


 * Merli; Erm... Good vocal... Thats it... She is one of those over-hyped entries into Vocaloid where people say she is good and you are left wonder what someone else sees your not seeing.
 * Maika; avoids pulling a SeeU by the guys behind her admitting that she won't sound like a native. their selling me a tortoise, and its more exotic then the other tortoises on sale, its just they are stressing its only a tortoise it just looks a bit more fancy. To be honest, if I spoke Spanish I'd buy the vocal out of appreciation for some honestly for a change in the Vocaloid studios, especially after SeeU and Sonika created some tension.
 * VY1 - is becoming another Meiko vocal other time. She had similairites with Append tones so wasnt' standing out before release and is bing used by Yamaha as the standard for their products.  and that bothers me.  Heres, Vocalowitter - you can get VY1, heres i-Vocaloid - and VY1, heres Vocalodama - and VY1 again.  Over time their slowly making anything that was special abut her as special just by constantly relying on her over all other vocals.  I'm not a fan of Lapis, but at least Lapis is supplied as an alternative for two the many products VY1 is heading these does. ditto VY2.  I know this is the idea of the VY series, but its getting silly.
 * Lily - Like Galaco, I'm not seeing what is so special about Lily. Never have done. She is a Meiko vocal at best and I think like many of the Meiko-standard vocaloids, its pushed to be something more then she is.
 * Wil. Wil doesnt' stand a chance.  He is the medium vocal of Zola, neither dedicated to Yuu's range or Kyo's.  And.... That makes him unfortunately the Meiko-vocal of the pack.  :-/
 * Zunko and Kokone. I've lump them here because... For now their not standing out, and while Kokone has a impressive range of vocal...Her tone is the issue not her range. Whe n I heard Zunko's vocal I was "erm... Well... Thats a nice voice...", basically I needed to hear more.  :-/
 * Yukari and Cul... Again... Average sounding voices.

so add Meiko to this brings it to ten.

Remember this is my middle grounds or "grey" area of Vocaloid, if its not on the list its either close to the top or bottom.