Dex (software)

Dex is a masculine vocal developed for Vocaloid 4 by Zero-G Ltd and the male counterpart to fellow female vocal Daina. The voice sampled for Dex was " Kenji-B", a western Vocaloid producer who had helped with many pre-release promotions and development.

Dex
Dex boxart
Developer(s)Zero-G Ltd
Initial releaseNovember 20, 2015
Operating systemWindows
PlatformPC, Mac
Available inEnglish
TypeVocal Synthesizer Application
LicenseProprietary

Development

In March 2015, Zero-G stated that they hoped to release an American male and female VOCALOID4 by the end of May.[1] For unknown reasons this was not met. As there were still work to be done, it was announced a July release was not possible for DEX. Barring any technical difficulties, he would have been ready for YAMAHA's approval in August.[2]

On the September 6th, AkiGlancy tweeted it was unlikely that DEX would be sold as a starter pack.[3] On October 2, she clarified that Zero-G was waiting for YAMAHA's final answer in terms of the release dates. DEX and DAINA were both ready and waited for YAMAHA's approval, which was the reason for their continuous delays. They were officially released on November 20, 2015.[4]

On 12 December 2015, DEX and his counterpart Daina were released for Mac via Vocaloid 4 for Cubase, this was the first time that a Mac version of a Zero-G vocal was made available.[5]

Dex and Daina were put on sale within a short time of being released, noting that they were Zero-G's (then) current best selling product.[6]

Both Dex and Daina proved to be very popular and despite their recent release, both nearly claimed the no.1 spot from Avanna in the 2015 most popular product for Zero-G. Dex held the no.2 position. Zero-G also highlighted once again how well the pair were selling being "big news", noting their sales with the words "red hot" in red text, which had never been seen before.[7]

Characteristics

DEX made his debut as a kemonomimi that is modeled after a wolf.[8] He is based on the character of the "hound" from The Fox and the Hound, a suggestion put forward by Kenji-B.[9] When asked about the aims of both DEX and DAINA, it was stated that the pair were targeted towards fans and designed to give producers the voices they needed.[10] The theme of "fox and hound" was one of many suggestions put forward, but it was the one that stayed due to a fondness among the group despite being taken lightly. The design was chosen after the team adored the primary sketches by Steel.[11]

After negative reactions from distributors, DEX was also given an alternative design without the animal traits, but still retains the theme of The Fox and The Hound. This was done to appeal to non Japanese-styled art fans. The alternative design featured DEX without his wolf ears and tail. The ears were replaced by black headsets with a yellow wolf on it. This version of DEX appears on the boxart. Older concepts were revealed during a November 2015 livestream. This included DEX as a hunter instead of a kemonomimi, in case Zero-G wished to scrap the 'Fox and Hound' theme. However, Zero-G liked the designs, and they were kept as alternate fantasy illustrations, complementary to Avanna.

See also

References
  1. "Vocaloid 4 looks to be available soon on the official English website - KVR Audio Forum". Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  2. "AkiGlancy's Dex and Daina Livestream Summary & Recap". Engloids.Info. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  3. "EmpathP@DAINAVP". Twitter. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  4. "Kenji-B @ SYNTECH". Twitter. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  5. "Zero-G download: DEX - Mac version (Voice library for VOCALOID4 - Mac OS X version)". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  6. "winter❄ 冬の海と咲いた夜香木 on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. "Zero-G Top 50 Best Selling Sample Libraries of 2015". Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  8. "Kenji-B @ SYNTECH". Twitter. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  9. Zero-G VOCALOID4 Premiere Stream. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2016 – via YouTube.
  10. "Dex and Daina stream notes". Google Docs. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  11. "AkiGlancy's Dex and Daina Livestream Summary & Recap". Engloids.Info. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
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