Vocaloid 4
Vocaloid 4 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 3 in the Vocaloid series. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 5.
History
In October 2014, the first Vocaloid confirmed for the Vocaloid 4 engine was the English vocal [|Ruby]. Its release was delayed so it could be released on the newer engine. A Vocaloid 4 version for Cubase on OS X has also been released. All AH-Software vocals were announced as receiving updated packages as well as [|VY1v4]. The update of the AH-Software Vocaloid 2 vocals is related to Windows 10 being released in 2015, and the impact it may have on the Vocaloid 2 software.The Vocaloid 4 engine allows the importing of Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 vocals, though Vocaloid 2 vocals must have already been imported into Vocaloid 3 for this to work. The new engine includes other features, but not all of them are accessible by Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 3 vocals. One of the new features is a "Growl" feature which allows vocals built for Vocaloid 4 to take on a growl-like property in their singing results. Cross-synthesis was also added, allowing the user to switch between two of a character's vocals built for the same language smoothly using a time-varying parameter. This feature is accessible when using Vocaloid 3 and Vocaloid 4 vocals, but not Vocaloid 2. Cross-synthesis only works with vocals from the same character, making use of packages like VY1v4 possible, but not packages such as Anon and Kanon. Another feature included is Pitch Rendering, which all imported vocals can use. This displays the effective pitch curve on the user interface. Finally, real-time input has been included in this version and is another feature which all vocals can use. VSQX files made in Vocaloid 3 work on Vocaloid 4, but they will lose data if loaded the other way around.
For Japanese users who had bought Vocaloid 3, Vocaloid 3 Editor, Vocaloid Editor for Cubase or VY1v3, Yamaha offered a free upgrade for each software. Those who bought the editor after November 10, 2014, were also offered a free upgrade until June 2015. Those who wished to use Vocaloid on a Macintosh, however were offered only the Vocaloid Editor for Cubase as an option; use of the Vocaloid editor on Mac as a normal Vocaloid 4 adaption was not offered.
One of the highlights of the cross-synthesis function is that it can produce very different results depending on which vocals are mixed. Megpoid V4's two vocals "Native" and "NativeFat" will not produce much difference between them. However, by mixing Megpoid V4 vocals "Power" and "Sweet" the function will produce a very different result.
When it was first released, it was only available in Japanese or English, despite being fully capable of using Chinese, Korean, or Spanish vocals from Vocaloid 3. This was similar to how with the original Vocaloid software functioned, in that its interface was only in English, despite having vocals for other languages. Despite the release of Vocaloid 4, Chinese vocals Yuezheng Ling and Zhanyin Lorra were also developed as releases intended for Vocaloid 3.
For the voice "Cyber Diva", some long-term bugs were fixed and pronunciations addressed. English Vocaloid libraries now use a new shorter, more effective script. A custom library was made for the vocal, the largest ever made, which caused an issue with the dictionary proxy that was addressed. English vocals now have more clarity, at the price of expressive tones. Due to the mislabeling of certain phonetic symbols, all past English built vocals were reported to have incorrect sounds assigned to certain symbols; this has been addressed with the new script.
Several adaptations of the Vocaloid 4 have been released. A Mobile version of the editor was released in 2015. Another adaption of the software came in the form of "Unity with Vocaloid", a version of the engine which allowed it to synthesis vocals in real-time within the Unity Engine. The job plug-in "Vocalistener" also received an upgrade, with an upgrade offer for Vocaloid 3 version owners offered.
Vocaloid 4 was the last version released under Hideki Kenmochi, as he announced his retirement on January 30, 2015. Vocaloid has continued its development. He was replaced by Katsumi Ishikawa.
In addition to the Vocaloid 4, the software itself also saw use in the Vocaloid Keyboard, which had first been announced in 2012, though prototypes of the Keyboard were finally unveiled in mid-2015 though did not see commercial release.
Products
VY1v4
The latest version of the VY1 product, VY1v4 contains 4 voices, "Natural", "Normal", "Power" and "Soft." VY1v4 was released on December 17, 2014, for both PC and Mac operating systems. Those who bought the previous version were offered an upgrade discount which was included on the Vocaloid shop.Cyber Diva
Cyber Diva is an American-accented female vocal released on February 4, 2015.A version of this vocal was also added to the Mobile Vocaloid Editor app, making it the first English vocal for the app at the time of release, and for quite a while the only vocal on the English app. Despite this, the app was still using a Japanese interface at the time of release.
Yuzuki Yukari V4
An update on the Vocaloid 3 product "Yuzuki Yukari", this update, released March 18, 2015, contains three vocals, "Jun", "Onn" and "Lin". "Jun" being a faithful recreation of the previous vocal, "Onn" being a soft-type vocal, and "Lin" being a power-type vocal. The vocals can be purchased individually or as a complete package. In addition, it was announced that all three vocals were would be released for the "Unity with Vocaloid" version.All three vocals also appeared on the Mobile Vocaloid Editor app, each sold separately.
The Yuzuki Yukari voice was later developed into the Vocaloid Keyboard.
Megurine Luka V4X
An update on the Vocaloid 2 product "Megurine Luka" that was released March 19, 2015, on both PC and Mac. It comes with four Japanese vocals, "Soft" and "Hard", as well as Enhanced Voice Expression Control, plus two English vocals, "Straight" and Soft. The EVEC system adds options to change the tones of the Japanese vocals "Soft_EVEC" and "Hard_EVEC" to nine additional Japanese tones: "Power 1", "Power 2", "Native", "Whisper", "Dark", "Husky", "Soft", "Falsetto" and "Cute". "SOFT_EVEC" and "Hard EVEC" can be used for cross-synthesis, giving Luka four possible XSY vocals for Japanese, and two for English. The vocal is based on breath.Gackpoid V4
An update of the V3 Gackpoid product announced on March 31, 2015, and released on April 30, 2015.Nekomura Iroha V4
An update on the Vocaloid 2 product. The voice comes with two libraries: "Natural" and "soft". Released June 18, 2015.SF-A2 miki V4
An update on the Vocaloid 2 product. Released June 18, 2015.V4 Flower
An update of the V Flower vocal released for Vocaloid 3. Released on July 16, 2015. Those who bought the previous version were offered an upgrade discount, which was included on the Vocaloid shop.Sachiko
Sachiko is a Japanese female Vocaloid from Yamaha, released on July 27, 2015. The voice actor is the Enka singer Sachiko Kobayashi. It came with a special plug-in for Vocaloid 4 called "Sachikobushi". This adjusts VSQx files to produce a voice like Kobayashi's.This vocal was later also added to the Mobile Vocaloid editor app.
ARSloid
ARSloid was announced in June 2015, and released on September 23, 2015. It is a male vocal based on the singer Akira Kano from Arsmagna. Product comes with three vocals, "Original", "Soft" and "Bright", allowing cross-synthesis to be used.Ruby
An American female English vocal developed by independent developer "Prince Syo" in collaboration with Anders of VOCATONE and distributed by PowerFX Systems AB. was released on October 7, 2015.Kaai Yuki V4
An update on the Vocaloid 2 product released on October 29, 2015. Due to the original voice actor maturing, a new actor was used for this product to make the new samples needed to complete the vocal library.Hiyama Kiyoteru V4
An update on the Vocaloid 2 product, includes the "Natural" and "rock" Voicebanks; released on October 29, 2015.Megpoid V4
The update to the Megpoid software. There are a total of 10 vocals for this package, the first five, Native, Adult, Whisper, Sweet, and Power are updates on the old Vocaloid3 versions. The last five are new vocals and consist of Nativefat, MellowAdult, PowerFat, NaturalSweet, and SoftWhisper. Megpoid V4 was released as "complete package" with all ten vocals, or as one of five separate packages with a pair of vocals in each.The five packages are;
- Native, containing the vocals "Native" and "NativeFat"
- Adult, containing the vocals "Adult" and "MellowAdult"
- Power, containing the vocals "Power" and "PowerFat"
- Sweet, containing the vocals "Sweet" and "NaturalSweet"
- Soft, containing the vocals "Soft" and "SoftWhisper"
Released on November 5, 2015.
The voice was also featured in use on the Vocaloid Keyboard prototype.
Megpoid English is also currently in consideration for an update. Development currently unscheduled but estimated to begin in 2016 or 2017.
Dex
Dex is a male American-accented Vocaloid by Zero-G, and partner to Daina, based on a hound theme and pop-orientation. In March 2015, Zero-G stated that they hoped to release an American male and female VOCALOID4 by the end of May, but delays pushed the release of Dex back to November 20, 2015.Dex was also sold for the Mac version of the software, a first for Zero-G Vocaloid software.