[Virtual > Real]

Okay, the Vocalistener tracks do sound wobbly, (again with the possible exception of Kaito and Lily, they sound better than the others for some reason) but mm...there's some good stuff even in the wobbly tracks. It adds so much depth to the voice. You hear them sound ways you didn't think they could before. I especially love the youthful sweetness you can hear in Rin's voice and the mature womanly sound you can hear from Luka.

Also, after listening to all the Vocalistener songs all the way through I think I can confirm: no breaths. I really am starting to believe this is an early version of Vocalistener. Besides the breaths, Kaito, and Luka's English, I've heard this thing make a Vocaloid sound much smoother. So I wonder....Guess we may well see in a few weeks.

On a more general note, I'd like to say the mixing on a whole for this album is pretty bad. Every Vocaloid is nearly drowned out, if not completely drowned out at some points. And the way the Vocaloids sound is underwhelming. Like not the tuning, just how the voice sounds. It kind of gives the impression that the album was made rather quickly.

Maybe Yamaha just doesn't make for a good album producer. *shrugs*

[Hikaru-chan]

...Hikki-chan's turn? : )

Spoiler

1. Nostalogic: Aside from the intro, no real change here. Skipping. T.T (Also was kinda hoping, like many others, that they wouldn't use squeaky-voice!Meiko on this one...*sigh*)

2. Sennen: I really, really, REALLY dislike this mix with a burning passion...so...yeah. Skipping. (I'm sorry, Kaito-kun. T.T)

3. MikuMiku ni Shite Ageru: ...wtf they did they do with Miku's voice in this song, I don't even...SKIPPING. (Before my ears start bleeding. I wish I were joking.)

4. Kokoro: I wish the "robot" parts were more robotic, but other than that...this doesn't sound too bad. In fact, it could be one of the best tracks (vocally) on the entire frikkin' album. And, unlike the other vocalistener tracks where the voices are near-indistinguishable from the originals, I CAN ACTUALLY TELL THIS IS RIN. LIKE.

5. Aku no Meshitsukai:... ... yeah. Skipping.

....1/5 tracks is a "Like". 4/5 tracks are skippable up to this point. So far, it doesn't look very good for this album...

6. Dancing Samurai: This vocals on this song were definitely redone. This sounds milestones better than the original. Either that, or my ears are being weird. But...I don't need to hear more than a minute and a half of this one. Skipping.

7. Just Be Friends: Again...I like this one. And I can actually tell it's Luka. I don't know what it is, but perhaps the illusion of added emotion to this piece just makes it stand out to me. ^^ LIKE.

8. Mosaic Role/Mozaik Roll/However the hell you spell it XP: Besides being just as unsure on the proper romanized spelling as before, I don't think this one has anything major added to it. Also, seeing as I've as of late been getting a bit bored with this song, I don't need to hear the whole thing. Skipping.

9. Kaze no Tadaima: Yuki-chan's voice is absolutely gorgeous, but this song is kinda boring. Skipping.

10. Guilty Verse: No real change here either. But, this is still a bad jam. \m/ So...LIKE. (Still love the scream!! Why can't Kiyoteru always be this badass??)

11. Satellite: (How did Peperon get on here twice again? Meh. Not complaining. ^^) I. STILL. WANT. MORE. POWER. >///< Seriously. She sounds sleepy in this version! I prefer the original MUCH better. T.T (I KNOW they can get power out of this. *See "Kokoro"* Point in case.) Skipping. I'd rather listen to the original.

12. Lily Lily*Burning Night: Still not a very memorable song. It's probably one of the more well done tracks, but, again...not really a fan of Lily's voice and I don't remember the original, so I can't compare. (But, I didn't skip it! It's nice to listen to from beginning to end, at least.)

13. Tsuki-hane: VY1 is so amazing here! But, when is "she" not? Also, I don't think there's anything real different about this one. I've only heard the original once, so please correct me if I'm wrong. But, it's still a pleasure to listen to. ^^

14. GAJAPINAX: I still think this is a nice upbeat techno-pop track. But...I still don't know what the hell about Gacha's voice. I really don't... ... ... ~.~;; Skipping.

15. Tobira no Mukou: If you didn't hear a difference in this version, YOU SHOULD. After listening to this, I'm certain to a tee it's been redone from the original version. After all, when the original was done, hinayukki-sama was just learning to use Nekomura! (In fact, it was her first solo piece for Nekomura.) She's much better with her now!! (*Look up "Dead Foresta", her recent Nekomura & Meiko duet, and tell me I'm wrong!!) This mix is also nice, very different from the original. I am not disappointed with this one. hinayukki-sama can NEVER disappoint me!! ^__^ (Yes, I'm blinded by the fangirl sparkles in my eyes!) LIKE. OH SO MUCH. >///<

16. Kotoba Meteor/Meteor Words: I still think this is a nice rock track. ^^ But, I still don't know what the heck about Piko's voice, man...I really don't... ~.~;; I'm gonna be brick'd for this one, but...skipping. *dodges*

17. Garasu no Hana: Like "his" counterpart, I have seldom heard VY2 sound anything less than spectacular. This piece is no exception. Too bad this mix pretty much all but completely drowns out "his" voice to the point where I have to turn it up all the way just to hear "him"... T.T

18. Line: This piece is really nice. And Mew's voice is starting to grow on me. ^^ But...she doesn't sound like V3. I'm sorry. I'm still trying to figure out why she sounds so muffled. She sounds like a recent V2 at best. But, I do admit that the piece is growing on me.

Let's see, final tally:

Hi-chan's "LIKES": 18, 17, 15, 13, 10, 7, 4.

The rest are pretty skippable/forgettable/I don't EVEN know what. >>;; I hate to use the term "FAIL", but, even if I did appreciate/like a good number of the tracks, this album was supposed to be something spectacular. It was far from it. I am disappoint.

[Soft~n~Fluffy]

Mini, on 20 September 2011 - 01:43 PM, said:

People using SeeU demo as a parameter for vocaloid3 > meh.

Should we not be using her as a parameter? Because to she sounds like what I expected from V3: fantastic.
Also I should probably say that I don't really hate the album as much as earlier implied; I just hate the tuning and mixing. There were some pleasant surprises like gachan's song. It's a catchy song and gachan sounds pretty good.

[Sappokei]

Soft~n~Fluffy, on 21 September 2011 - 01:54 PM, said:

Should we not be using her as a parameter? Because to she sounds like what I expected from V3: fantastic.
Also I should probably say that I don't really hate the album as much as earlier implied; I just hate the tuning and mixing. There were some pleasant surprises like gachan's song. It's a catchy song and gachan sounds pretty good.

Well there's been rumours that the backing track contains real vocals from the VA. Please refer to the thread for that info.

Virtual > Real, on 21 September 2011 - 03:30 AM, said:

Also, after listening to all the Vocalistener songs all the way through I think I can confirm: no breaths. I really am starting to believe this is an early version of Vocalistener. Besides the breaths, Kaito, and Luka's English, I've heard this thing make a Vocaloid sound much smoother. So I wonder....Guess we may well see in a few weeks.

Perhaps this is due to the original song not having breaths? When I'd seen your post I remembered that Behind The Door has a breath at the beginning of the song, so I listened to the new version which does contain it.

[Zodiac Rain]

A lot of the songs didn't strike me as anything special. I only have strong opinions on a few of the songs.

Spoiler

Miku- I don't like the way she sounds in this track, but it excites me none the less. It sounds like, with a few adjustments, it would have been awesome. I'm looking forward to what Producers will do with Miku and Vocalistener in the future~

Rin- I've always preferred this song sung by humans, so I adore this version.

Lily- I don't like the song, but Lily sounds way better than usual here.

Piko- *shudders* I really, really don't like the way he sounds here. Ugh...

[Sappokei]

Yeeah I have similar feelings, I just wished it was as great as it could've been. I mean, even Mitchie_M could make Miku sound so realistic without the use of Vocalistener.

Hell, even the Westerners are catching up

[Soft~n~Fluffy]

^Mitchie is a wizard so it's no use comparing mortal Vocaloid users to him.
Joking aside, the tuning and mixing is far below the average you would hear on a good doujin album or in the weekly VocaRan. As a side note, our counterparts in the Japanese fandom are saying about the same thing, looking at the Miku wiki and the Amazon reviews. They're saying that the Vocalistener tracks are "cruel" and that they should have just used the original versions of the songs. The topped-rated review on Amazon gave it two stars and two stars is the median score (that's what I'd probably give it too).

[Mini]

Quote

Should we not be using her as a parameter? Because to she sounds like what I expected from V3: fantastic.
Also I should probably say that I don't really hate the album as much as earlier implied; I just hate the tuning and mixing. There were some pleasant surprises like gachan's song. It's a catchy song and gachan sounds pretty good.

Quote

Well there's been rumours that the backing track contains real vocals from the VA. Please refer to the thread for that info.´

That ^ and basically even if the voicer isn´t in the backvocal the demo is still HEAVILY edited, just like Freely Tomorrow and Fruu´s work. That´s not a parameter because you can´t tell how the voice really sounds without all edition around.
It´s still a good demo though, but it can´t be used for other comparisions, like Ring´s and Mew´s.


I only realized now but Mew´s connections between words are gorgeous

[Virtual > Real]

Sappokei, on 21 September 2011 - 04:14 PM, said:

Virtual > Real, on 21 September 2011 - 03:30 AM, said:

Also, after listening to all the Vocalistener songs all the way through I think I can confirm: no breaths. I really am starting to believe this is an early version of Vocalistener. Besides the breaths, Kaito, and Luka's English, I've heard this thing make a Vocaloid sound much smoother. So I wonder....Guess we may well see in a few weeks.

Perhaps this is due to the original song not having breaths? When I'd seen your post I remembered that Behind The Door has a breath at the beginning of the song, so I listened to the new version which does contain it.

It could be. I just find it weird that apparently no one would take advantage of the feature that detects them. At all. That just seems like a weird coincidence to me. So it makes me wonder if it was available at all...but that could be the case.

Also, Behind The Door wasn't one of the tracks that used Vocalistener. Still great, though...

[Sappokei]

Virtual > Real, on 22 September 2011 - 04:07 AM, said:

It could be. I just find it weird that apparently no one would take advantage of the feature that detects them. At all. That just seems like a weird coincidence to me. So it makes me wonder if it was available at all...but that could be the case.

Also, Behind The Door wasn't one of the tracks that used Vocalistener. Still great, though...

Oh, yeah that's true. But the voice did change, as did the instruments, therefore it does show they touched it somehow.

Anyway I'm just happy that we're not "mistakenly" saying the tracks are bad, that even Japanese-speakers know it's bad.

Yamaha doesn't know how to use their own Vocaloids properly, well that's new