Saki

* AI (2022)
* Std, AI (2020)

**Saki** (サキ), previously known as "**JA-F2**" and "**Masaki**", is a Japanese vocal developed by Dreamtonics Co., Ltd.. As JA-F2, she was originally released for *Web Synthesizer V* in December 2019, which was a software that launched after *Synthesizer V* and was a branch off of the development of *Synthesizer V Studio*. As Saki, she later received another Web version and commercial release as a Standard voice database for *Synthesizer V Studio* in July 2020, then received an AI voice database in December that year.

Her voice provider has never been revealed but was hinted to be a singer-songwriter according to AH-Software Co. Ltd.'s webpage.

## Concept

Saki is a singing Japanese voice database "based on the singing voice of a talented singer-songwriter". According to AH-Software's page, "Her natural singing voice naturally adapts to any occasion. It is a beautiful singing voice that is good at rock, etc. in the high range, from ballads and pops." Saki is treated as an official voice database or an indispensable "reference-level" type of singing voice, representing Dreamtonics's brand quality.

### Etymology

**Saki** (サキ) is a derivation of **Masaki** (マサキ), which was the former name for the library found in the website directory of Web Synthesizer V. At the time, Saki was only known simply as codename **JA-F2**. It was not until the release of Saki for Synthesizer V Studio that a proper name was officially given to her.

### Appearance

Saki has no official human-like avatar, being represented instead by an abstract symbol: a set of pink-red, lime-green, and sky-blue triplet stripes criss-crossing each other (forming secondary colors like orange-red, cyan-green, and fuchsia on the corners) to form a rhomboid capital letter "S" (for "Saki"). Characterization then shifts towards the song producers themselves rather than towards the product, so Saki is open to any form of visual interpretation. This symbol represented both Saki Standard and Saki AI.

In 2022, Saki received a new visual for her AI version, which was introduced via a physical standalone box that was planned to release on July 21 that year. This new visual featured the "S" as magenta-pink with hints of purple, indigo, and navy blue, following the style of all of the Dreamtonics vocals released after her. After the physical version was released, the new appearance later became her updated design overall and her digital shop icons were replaced on the Dreamtonics storefronts as well as her profile image within her voice database.

## Voice Libraries

* JA-F2 (Masaki\*) (*Web Synthesizer V*), December 31, 2019
* Saki Standard (*Web Synthesizer V*), July 22, 2020
* Saki Standard (*Synthesizer V Studio*), July 30, 2020
* Saki Standard Lite (*Synthesizer V Studio*), July 30, 2020
* Saki AI (*Synthesizer V Studio*), December 25, 2020
* Saki AI Lite (*Synthesizer V Studio*), December 25, 2020

## Additional Information

### Marketing

Saki was made available on both Animen's ANiCUTE shop and on AH-Software's shop, making her readily available for users. Both Standard and AI were also made available as Lite voice databases, allowing people to try them if they wished. Dreamtonics also opened their own Taobao store as part of their updated sales model for the Chinese market and included Saki as a purchasable option. She was also later made available on the international Dreamtonics store on February 4, 2022. On June 13, 2022, Dreamtonics announced that they launched a new official store for the Chinese market built on WeChat's Mini Program. Users would be able to purchase the Synthesizer V Studio Pro editor and Dreamtonics' vocals through the application in a convenient manner, enjoying the automatic real-time distribution shopping experience. From June 13 to July 13, users were able to take advantage of unlimited 10% off coupons in the new store. It was later clarified that the decision to open this new shopping option was made due to Taobao's new restrictions on the sales of virtual goods as of April 2022, especially for restrictions on shipments without logistics since virtual goods would need to be delivered via email. Since her initial release, the Standard voice database was the only version of Saki and overall Dreamtonics vocal to receive a physical box. A physical box for her AI version was not released until July 21, when she was also joined by Ryo and Kevin, becoming one of the Dreamtonics AI voice databases to receive physicals. Saki was also among one of the Synthesizer V vocals that could be trialed at certain Japanese music retail stores where customers can use the software that was set up with the stores' PCs.

As a Dreamtonics vocal, Saki was treated as an official or standard vocal for the engine, where she could be found in demonstrations of Synthesizer V Studio and its AI capabilities. This also meant that she would be among the first vocals to be equipped with the latest engine updates. As JA-F2, she was used to market Web Synthesizer V. As Saki, she was later used to market Synthesizer V Studio since its beginning and was one of the focal vocals for multiple demonstrations, with new Dreamtonics vocals releasing and becoming the main point of marketing the later updates. On February 18, 2021, she was used to demonstrate Synthesizer V Studio 1.2.0, which brought faster rendering, cleaner sounds, better pronunciation, and fewer audio artifacts. On June 17, she was featured in the 1.3.0 demo, which brought significant naturalness improvements to AI voice databases. On December 23, she was featured in the 1.5.0 demo, which introduced Cross-lingual Singing Synthesis. On March 26, 2022, she was featured in the 1.6.0 tutorial video, which introduced Instant Mode and Vocal Mode. On July 21, she was featured in the 1.7.0 tutorial video, which introduced High Dynamics Voice Models and AI Retakes. On September 1, she was featured in the 1.7.1 tutorial video, which introduced Voice Version Selection. On February 6, 2023, she was featured in the 1.8.1 debut video on YouTube.

Similarly, Dreamtonics began uploading tutorial videos that were suited for new users of Synthesizer V Studio since October 17, 2022. Saki's voice was featured in the YouTube versions of the first and second videos.

On June 24, 2022, Dreamtonics announced its first creation contest in collaboration with AH-Software, Animen, AUDIOLOGIE Co., Ltd., and Eclipsed Sounds, LLC with three competition areas: originals, covers, and cross-lingual synthesis. Creators were encouraged to submit their work regardless of language restrictions. Prizes included cash distribution from bilibili, digital copies of certain Synthesizer V voice databases, and the physical boxed copy of ANRI. Saki was listed as one of the eligible vocals for this contest.

On December 9, 2022, Dreamtonics announced that Saki, Qing Su, Ryo, Kevin, An Xiao, Feng Yi, Yuma, Natalie, Mai, Cong Zheng, and Xuan Yu officially have their own artist association profiles on NetEase Music. Creators can use the profiles to add to their published songs, providing a more unified retrieval method and higher exposure rate for the works. Dreamtonics would provide assistance services to creators at no charge and would not obtain any income belonging to the artist when associating their works with the singer profiles. Based on NetEase Music's policies, creators needed to provide relevant proof of purchase to NetEase Music's customer service in order to associate a virtual singer with their works, thus, screenshots of receipts would need to be prepared in advance. NetEase Music's customer service would then confirm the request and forward it to Dreamtonics, who would approve the requests within five business days upon receiving them.

### Reputation

Saki's character status
**Reaction**

Saki's voice was well-received within the fandom. As a vocalist without an official character, this allowed producers and fans to create their own for her, resulting in a variety of designs. Her voice was also noted to sound professional and well done, especially for her AI voice database, which as the first to receive an AI release, was met with overall positive reactions.
**Impact**

As a new product to demonstrate the capabilities of Synthesizer V Studio and Synthesizer V AI, Saki was considered to be the vocal used for tech demos, allowing for producers to compare and understand the differences per update. She had a professional feel in accordance to her voice provider, who was stated to be an experienced singer-songwriter, and made for a good starting voice for both software. Saki's AI voice database especially was praised for sounding realistic and helped gauge interest in this type of voice database for Synthesizer V as a whole.
**Achievements**

* First voice database available for Web Synthesizer V.
* First female voice database available for Web Synthesizer V.
* First Japanese voice database available for Web Synthesizer V.
* First Dreamtonics voice database available for Web Synthesizer V.
* First Dreamtonics voice database for Synthesizer V Studio.
* First female Dreamtonics voice database for Synthesizer V Studio.
* First Synthesizer V AI voice database to be released.
* First female Synthesizer V AI voice database to be released.
* First Japanese Synthesizer V AI voice database to be released.
* First Dreamtonics Synthesizer V AI voice database to be released.
* First Synthesizer V AI Lite voice database to be released.
* First Synthesizer V vocal to release without a character design.

## References

1. ↑ In an interview with Vocaloid News.net, Kanru Hua said that a contract was signed with Eleanor Forte's VP to prevent disclosure of any personal information. Considering the fact that JA-F2/Saki is original to Synth V, unlike AiKO and Yamine Renri, it is assumed that a similar contract was signed with her VP as well. Please read the interview for more information. https://www.vocaloidnews.net/vnn-interview-kanru-hua-synthesizer-v/
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/uchuuzentai/status/1212203843519438849
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/khuasw/status/1212027759171534848
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/1276349537079029760
5. ↑ https://www.ah-soft.com/synth-v/saki/index.html
6. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV11f4y1u7Sw
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJVmg0cIZrM
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/VocaSphereNews/status/1542463514320969728 - Screencapture by @VocaSphereNews
9. ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/595148335399419261
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/dreamtonics\_en/status/1489436803858046976
11. ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/671200609838301200
12. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv17082866
13. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/1542711016860962816
14. ↑ https://twitter.com/shima\_umeda/status/1598220720546676737
15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D\_cXLpO0qIw
16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir3eb9lwKp8
17. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De4cnZkl5pQ
18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb8m\_HmBEt4
19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyvXI3jEyRo
20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZd-XGVb\_L0
21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYo2q\_5N1v0
22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_s1gITI3vbA
23. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj7UipbHBdw
24. ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv17237015
25. ↑ https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404844858597835082

## External links

* Product Page
* Saki NetEase Music artist profile