Vocaloid2 Sonika [Japan Import]

SONiKA is $69 to download on Zero-G's site ( Zero-G. co. uk ) and what is this b.s. about SONiKA being a "[Japan Import"]? She doesn't need to be imported from Japan and she's not a "Crypton Future Media" product (although they are a distributor) ! Her company in the UNITED KINGDOM has distributors all over, including North America, Europe, and Japan if you want a DVD of her instead! The distributors can be found on Zero-G's site. I'll also mention that Sonika isn't the best vocaloid... most people just coplain she is rather hard to use and can sound strange and squeaky... But if you love her, at least don't overpay.

I have been using English Vocaloids for two years since I discovered them a few years ago. Prior to discovering Sonika (and the other English loids from PowerFx and Zero-G), I thought they were Japanese only since I had been a Vocaloid fan since 2008 and mostly heard Japanese songs.I originally bought Sonika as a digital download from Zero-G, but I do plan on buying her boxed verison since I loved using her so much. I have other English Vocaloids, but I think Sonika is my favorite to use on the Vocaloid 3 engine due to how soft she becomes. The Vocaloid 2 version of Sonika is good, but I prefer to import her on the Vocaloid 3 engine since I originally wanted a soft vocalist's vocals to work with.My reasons for rating Sonika five stars:1. Her vocals are soft, light, cute and British accented. Right now she is the only native English female with that voice type that is very user friendly (after figuring out how to use her).2. Her vowel to vowel, consonant to consonant, and consonant to vowel phoneme transitions are very smooth even without being imported to Vocaloid 3.3. She responds well to tuning her VEL, DYN, GEN and depending on the engine BRE inside the editor. Mostly DYN since that's because I don't want her to clip in the Vocaloid 2 engine.4. When imported to Vocaloid 3, she is even more user friendly. Most of her phonemes are made more gentle and won't clip.5. Her range is very nice. Two spots I've discovered where she sings the best at are #B2 to #G3 for low notes, and C3 to F4 for mid-high notes. She's also able to hit notes up to D5, but I don't write music that high. That is where she is very clear at.6. She is very easy to clean up in a DAW. Give her the right filters and TLC, she will shine.7. She is also very easy to make sing other languages. Some English Vocaloids don't like being forced to sing Japanese, but Sonika is one of the few ones that is able to be forced to sing any language if her phonemes are edited well enough.8. She is very easy to make expressive with Singing Style, vibrato, and Singer Properties/Singer Editor.9. With the GEN in the singer editor, it's very easy to make her sound more child-like (negative) or mature (positive). It's also possible to make her even more understandable with the right setting.10. She works best in trance, house, electronica, dance, and pop. But she can be very genre flexible.

By now, the Vocaloid engine has progressed into it's 3rd generation (V3). So we are left asking if it's still worth looking back and purchasing the older generation voice banks like SONiKA?++Before progressing further, I will say that SONiKA (as well as many if not all the generation 2 vocaloids) CAN BE UPLOADED INTO V3 engine and experience very, very significant improvements in sound/pronunciation and smoothness/execution. But anyways, I, personally am still operating under the V2 engine and will be reviewing SONiKA in that light. ++Though she was the first English vocaloid marketed exclusively to fans (up 'til then, professionals were the target), SONiKA has garnered the reputation of being one of the most difficult english vocaloid "singers" (engloids) to work with in the vocaloid music community. I definitely admitted that she does have an exceeding amount of glitches (in the phonemes and pronunciations...not the system) and variables that aren't always present in many of the other Engloids. I will not lie, she is a very difficult voice to work with and YOU WILL be spending some time figuring out her "nature".WITH ALL THESE PROBLEMS, WHY 5 STARS?:Ultimately, no vocaloid is truly "made ready to go" just out of the box. All of them need some mixing and post-production to blend them "naturally" into the rest of the mix. If live vocals need it, it's even more necessary for a synthetic voice. SONiKA maybe be one of the most difficult vocaloids to work with, but she can be quite versatile when you understand her:1. Most of the glitches can be removed or minimized through smart arranging and mixing.2. The interface operates very smoothly and effectively...and is very simple and user friendly.3. Ability to redefine pronunciations if the default one's are not effective for a situation. There is a pronunciation/phoneme dictionary in the program to help you with that.4. Relatively vast vocal range, but she is definitely strongest as a alto and mezzo-soprano (especially for pronunciation clarity).5. Can very effective control over vibratos, portamenti, accent/attack, breathiness, and more to add a bit of expressive touch6. comes with the "Vocaloid 2" engine and "singer editor"7. Can be imported into the "Vocaloid 3" engine.8. good costumer service.9. Voice has wide applications from lead vocals to back up singer uses.All in all SONiKA was a program that really opened up possibilities for me and new ways to approach music. Bugs exist, but they didn't really impede creativity...albeit it sometimes spawned it...once you understand her voice and have a feel for how YOU would apply her voice.