Talk:Standard Vocals (VOCALOID5)/@comment-2601:190:4301:E6F0:F0A1:6CA9:3860:3C59-20180718095913/@comment-53539-20180718104335

Actually since V4 this has been acknowledged by Yamaha and the studios working on Vocaloids as a legit worth. The style of recording V4 vocals changed to allow more traits from the vocalist to be captured for Japanese vocaloids for this reason. The issue has been around since the early V3 days when the Vocaloid market was overloaded with Japanese Vocaloids, to the point they ate into each others sales and they had trouble standing out form each other. This led to some nit-picks over which vocals to invest in or buy.

Here is the thing while all throats, mouths, etc around the world are unique to the individual, the human vocal itself is capable of only a limited range that varies per age and normally gender though there are exceptions wherein people have vocals like other areas (males with fema-like vocals for example). This is why its possible to imitate vocals of someone else, hence why you get Elvis Impersonators and other vocal impersonators. Professional singers can have it worst as their trained to sing in a particular way so have even less variety to their vocals at times.

So yes, the whole idea of a Vocaloid sounding like a past Vocaloid is not only acknowledged by the studios but very possible. The things that make a Vocaloid unique are the samples within that voicebank that make up each one and they are based on that provider's unique set of teeth, mouth, throat, etc, so the slightest change of accent can impact a vocal. But bare in mind studios have now been confirmed to cheat from time to time and re-use samples in new voicebanks (for example, just changing the vowels). As proof, there have been examples of experiments done wherein people mislabelled vocals in a song on purpose to see how people reacted and they couldn't always tell the vocaloid. There are just now so many voicebanks that overlapping of voice types and so fourth happens, though this is more likely in Japanese vocaloids because of how many there are and how limited variety of samples are found in a Japanese voicebank compared to something like a Chinese Vocaloid. Yes, there are differences, but thats not the problem, the problem is the similarities.

However, I will note most of us here are wise enough to know that Vocaloids who sound alike aren't always going to produce the same result. Take for instance Mirai, Mirai has the same voice type as Meiko and at times can sound too similar. However, if you compare the stats of Miria and Meiko Straight, then Mirai comes out on top of Meiko, because she is a better voicebank overall. So despite being the same voice type, Mirai is considered superior to Meiko's Straight vocal, baring in mind Meiko herself is considered a "common type" voice and can be found even among real singers a lot world wide. We don't considered therefore the fact a Vocaloid sounds alike to other Vocaloid a issue at all, because when pushed to the limits, every voicebank has its pros and cons and as you go up and down the octaves this shows up.

The only time we don't consider the comparison stuff legit is when people either say the vocal sounds like 6 or so voicebanks combined or if the two vocals they compare with are not even the same type at all.

But the fact remains, in VOCALOID5, the "sounds alike" issue is consider very real and very much a problem for Vocalodi studios. Its now considered more of a ignorance for someone to refuse to accept Vocaloids can sound alike, then it is to say they do sound alike.