Issue with DJ Sona Voiceover (very hard to understand with additional VO filtering)

TechMonkie·Feb 3, 2015·34 votes·45,659 views

First and foremost, this skin looks freaking bananas.. incredibly good job to your art and modeling department, much deserved kudos to all of you.

That being said, I have to admit that I'm less than impressed with the new voiceover. There's so much distortion and reverb that it's incredibly hard to hear what she's saying at all. I like the idea of adding an 'electronic' edge to her voice for this skin, but you guys have to seriously tone back on the distortion/reverb, or it's just gonna sound like a really big echo'y mess. I've included a YouTube link to the new voiceover so you can listen to it and draw your own conclusions.

You guys have a really good product here, and my wife and I will be insta-buying it as soon as it drops, but please, consider doing something with the voiceover.

The only other minor pet peeve I have is not being able to select which song I want to listen to when she's on my team, but that's relatively minor considering how overbearing the VO issue is.

Regards,

Tech

133 Comments

RiotRiot GalettaFeb 3, 201555 votes

Hey guys,

I just wanted to jump in and comment on this. We intended for her VO to not be understandable. This VO change was made in order for the VO to not distract or interfere with her music. She has an obvious Daft punk/EDM feel and we wanted the VO to harmonize with that.

The VO is also supposed to be heard with her music. I would hold off on final judgement until you get the whole experience. :D

Jeddy017Feb 3, 20156 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Galetta,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2015-02-03T21:29:22.156+0000)

Hey guys,

I just wanted to jump in and comment on this. We intended for her VO to not be understandable. This VO change was made in order for the VO to not distract or interfere with her music. She has an obvious Daft punk/EDM feel and we wanted the VO to harmonize with that.

The VO is also supposed to be heard with her music. I would hold off on final judgement until you get the whole experience. :D

What if we just get rid of the VO instead?We will still be able to listen to her music,but we don't have to listen the the child of R2-D2 & Hatsune Miku.

SpecterVonBarenFeb 3, 20151 votes

{quoted}

What if we just get rid of the VO instead?We will still be able to listen to her music,but we don't have to listen the the child of R2-D2 & Hatsune Miku.

Someone. Anyone. Please draw this!

Pika310Feb 4, 20156 votes

http://gamergirl96.deviantart.com/art/R2-Miku-346929021

Neo CyrusFeb 3, 201525 votes

It's an ultimate skin. I hate the idea of not being able to understand a word for a skin that half its purpose is to have lots of lines! How about giving us the option?

CirrusstrafeFeb 3, 201516 votes

[{quoted}](name=Neo Cyrus,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f0001,timestamp=2015-02-03T21:36:19.601+0000)

It's an ultimate skin. I hate the idea of not being able to understand a word for a skin that half its purpose is to have lots of lines! How about giving us the option?

Because the purpose of this skin in particular is not to have lots of lines.

This one's purpose is to have lots of music.

Spirit Guard Udyr's was to highlight his multiform capabilities, and Pulsefire Ezreal was to emphasize his egotistical super future grandstanding.

So, naturally, Sona is going to be purely about the music.

Neo CyrusFeb 4, 20159 votes

That's one of the dumbest excuses I've ever heard. Not only does it not have "lots of music", it doesn't have lots of anything. I just tried it now. It's annoying hearing gibberish, as if I really needed to play it to confirm.

HazozatFeb 5, 20156 votes

I don't understand this thinking.

I love the idea of the skin. I love the particles, the icons, and the music, but the way the VO is being handled leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Riot, you've set your own rules as to what you have to deliver to justify a skin costing around $25 when not on sale: so, deliver.

Riot has clearly listed the criteria for an ultimate skin, including "new voice over and sounds." Okay, we've got the new sounds. Plenty of them. Over 3 hours. Now where's the new voice over? If the idea is that overcompensating in one area is supposed to cover for a lack of development in the other then I don't agree.

And I don't agree that the remixing and filtering of an old voice over into electronic gibberish to disguise the fact that it's recycled constitutes a new voice over. In my opinion, it seems lazy and cheap, like they didn't want to hire a voice actor or singer. It feels to me like it wasn't a stylistic decision but a sneaky one to disguise a shortcut taken.

And I don't understand why you're okay with it, or why you're saying it's because the skin is all about the music. The human voice is music. It's the original instrument. It doesn't need to be rendered unintelligible to be musical. A similar effect can be achieved with real, honest to goodness, understandable words from a brand spanking new VO put through the same process. And everyone can be happy and everything can be square. But I don't see that happening. And that makes me a little sad.

EDIT: Apparently some new lines were recorded. This only bothers me more. They had the voice actress in the studio and recorded new lines, but you can hardly tell because of the processing and remixing with the old lines. They had the opportunity to do a proper, full, new VO but went this route instead. Disappointing.

Baron Von BanginFeb 3, 20159 votes

Not sure if this is the same, but I played her VO in the background while listening to each theme one at a time. It really doesn't sound any better at all. It's a huge mess.

And going with the Daft Punk example, I can understand everything they say int heir songs, it's just robotic sounding. In this skin Sona is literally impossible to understand.

It Is I EmotoFeb 3, 20153 votes

You know, I was still kinda excited, what if she buys her items and say cool stuff about them them, like if she buys an lich bane and does an joke about that the hp of the enemies will drop as hard as her bass ;D Though, since she's somewhat daft punk inspired, why not making her voice sound somewhat similar to this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CgkWmKJLuE it would be easy to understand, yet sound probably as cool to her music! Though yeah, what if she had a synthesized voice effect like (hah im really a weeaboo) Hatsune Miku, mostly inspired by her? Or an voice box that she uses to communicate? That'd be cool and hilarious!

It Is I EmotoFeb 3, 20154 votes

tho, i'd like to drop, that probably Oriannas voice sounds more fitting in my opinion; well yeah, she has a robotic/glados like voice, but it'd probably would solve the voice over problem for dj sona being hard to hear, yet being extremly well fitting. as well don't forget for those players who probably deactivate the music as dj sona..

NaharaFeb 3, 201527 votes

http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJgaxVzYurPI&start1=1&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DTny2nx9kz0g&start2=3&authorName=DJ+Sona

Long URL is long, but if anyone was interested in hearing how her VO sounded with the music, I'm guessing it'll be something like this.

GigglingAngelFeb 4, 20159 votes

[{quoted}](name=Shad Croly,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f0004,timestamp=2015-02-03T22:11:23.575+0000)

http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJgaxVzYurPI&start1=1&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DTny2nx9kz0g&start2=3&authorName=DJ+Sona

Long URL is long, but if anyone was interested in hearing how her VO sounded with the music, I'm guessing it'll be something like this.

That sounds perfectly fine.

PhoenixSlayer13Feb 4, 20154 votes

{quoted}

That sounds perfectly fine.

Huh. That's interesting.

I'm not sure if it'll be full-blast music the whole game based on the 3 HOUR mix Surrender@20 put up, but it's interesting.

I'll wait for some actual gameplay to make a final verdict.

ZmuecatFeb 4, 20155 votes

It sounds good, but I'd still like to hear the words.

Granted, I'm also not going to storm Riots headquarters with pitchforks over it either.

RiotRiot GalettaFeb 4, 201515 votes

Oh yeah this is very very close to what you get in game! One small difference is that the VO will not play as often as it does in the VO preview. We have scripts in place that staggers the VO. So Vo can only be triggered after a rest period, this is how VO works on all champions. :D

Derpy MikeFeb 4, 20155 votes

I'm not going to tell you how to do your job..... But please, at least consider the possibility of allowing players to enable and disable the voice at their leisure. This voice is a massive turn off for a fair amount of people, including myself. It would be a godsend if it could be disabled so that the music can be enjoyed to its fullest potential.

RiotRiot GalettaFeb 4, 201521 votes

You can actually do this already! You just need to can go into your sound settings (while in game) and set voice volume to zero. This way you hear no VO at all. :D

Derpy MikeFeb 4, 20158 votes

Yes, I could. But Having to turn it on or off every time I wanted to / not to play her would gett annoying very quickly. Additionally I'd miss out on every other voice in the match, most of which I don't have a problem with. How am I meant to appreciate the enemy Jinx /L-ing at me. Or how will I know if Sion THIS IS WHAT PASSES FOR WARRRRRRRRRR!!???!!

Rinky DinkyFeb 4, 20151 votes

Dude at this point you are just arguing for the sake of arguing lol

Derpy MikeFeb 4, 20159 votes

I know right. How dare I have a different opinion to the drones, bootlickers, and shills. I must be doing it for the sake of arguing.

It's definitely not because I want this skin to be worth the asking price of thirty dollars. The fact that significantly cheaper skins have more and tangible dialog than this skin right now deeply saddens me and I want to see it fixed.

CirrusstrafeFeb 4, 20154 votes

[{quoted}](name=Derpy Mike,realm=OCE,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f0004000200000000000000000000,timestamp=2015-02-04T03:15:02.584+0000)

I know right. How dare I have a different opinion to the drones, bootlickers, and shills. I must be doing it for the sake of arguing.

It's definitely not because I want this skin to be worth the asking price of thirty dollars. The fact that significantly cheaper skins have more and tangible dialog than this skin right now deeply saddens me and I want to see it fixed.

It's nice to know that if someone has an opinion that is not directly lined up with yours that it is coming from a drone, bootlicker, and/or shill.

What is your take on mustard? I quite like it myself, but if you don't then I suppose my tastebuds are just damaged from all the bootlicking I have been doing.

That said, you actually did have a good point earlier. Since I totally understand that the VO isn't for everyone and is, according to you, only for apologist sheep, then everyone should get a button that can toggle it much like the music itself. The fact that you can hear the heavily chopped up VO without the music does seem kind of wonky and I question the judgment in that. To each their own only works if each can have their own, such as you want once you peel away all of your rabid lashing out at everyone in this forum. Good luck with that henceforth.

The rest of us can otherwise continue to press our Skinner box buttons on the hour as requested, and take our daily Soma as prescribed by Big Red.

Edit - In fact, I think you are on to something there. I certainly don't want to hear psychopaths spam Lux laugh or Kog'Maw dance in ARAMs, nor do I want to hear a 30m loop of "Gems, gems, gems, gems..." but hearing their SFX can be paramount to avoiding things.

A character level VO mute would be pretty sweet.

Derpy MikeFeb 4, 20154 votes

My overall hostility stems from fear, friend. Regardless of whether or not it's good, bad, or even tangible, 3 minutes of dialogue is inexcusable for a thirty dollar skin. If we let this shit fly now, what's stopping riot from lowering the bar even further on their next ultimate skin release? People are buying into their cop-outs and the fact that riot can do-no-wrong in their eyes seriously worries me.

Dancing NinjaFeb 4, 20153 votes

She may only have a 3 minute vo but she has 3hrs of music.

KawdieFeb 4, 20156 votes

3 minutes of voice over for 3 hours of music? Must be a Lil' Wayne song.

FlemmanFeb 4, 20154 votes

well, on that note, if I turn off the voice when I play this skin (would be great to have option for just on character to not go on setting everygame :p) will I still be able to hear an ennemy rek'sai ult?

GaleWinUnleashedFeb 4, 20155 votes

I'm reasonably sure any sound effects associated with a spell don't fall into the same category as VO. Not 100% certain, but it at least makes sense to me.

Porme ISAFeb 4, 20159 votes

Agree with Derpy Mike, if her voice is more understandable it will be great, clear talking and energetic music are perfect combination . Btw the style of her VO is way different from Daft Punk/ EDMs'

JevelFaithfulFeb 4, 20155 votes

I agree with that statement. There's a way her voice could be understandable while not being too wildly different from the music. As it is now, it's like breaking the music with random noise. It would be perfect if they were in sync with the music, but they're not.

That being said, Shad's preview make it sound a lot better than just the lone VO.

AlriennFeb 6, 20151 votes

Would it even be possible to sync it with the music though? I thought VO was triggered by your character doing an action... using an ability or moving... so if she was moving from point to point and saying something it either would be out of sync with the music or out of sync with the movement... I kinda prefer it to be in sync with the action..

JevelFaithfulFeb 7, 20152 votes

I'd presonally see it easier and better to put it in sync with actions (no new code). But make it less noisy and more like lyrics.

AbyssphereFeb 3, 20157 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Galetta,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2015-02-03T21:29:22.156+0000)

Hey guys,

I just wanted to jump in and comment on this. We intended for her VO to not be understandable. This VO change was made in order for the VO to not distract or interfere with her music. She has an obvious Daft punk/EDM feel and we wanted the VO to harmonize with that.

The VO is also supposed to be heard with her music. I would hold off on final judgement until you get the whole experience. :D

Surely it's more distracting to constantly be thinking "wtf is she saying?" in game? When I hear Sona talking usually it's not something I actively pay attention to but I'm constantly going to be annoyed by not being able to understand her with this :( You may as well just not give her a VO, it'd be more pleasant imo.

PhoenixSlayer13Feb 3, 20155 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Galetta,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2015-02-03T21:29:22.156+0000)

Hey guys,

I just wanted to jump in and comment on this. We intended for her VO to not be understandable. This VO change was made in order for the VO to not distract or interfere with her music. She has an obvious Daft punk/EDM feel and we wanted the VO to harmonize with that.

The VO is also supposed to be heard with her music. I would hold off on final judgement until you get the whole experience. :D

To be honest, I'm not really sure how I feel about this. I can understand focusing on the music, but I feel like it would still be nice to have a slightly more understandable VO.

That being said, I'll wait for more previews before making a final decision. I like pretty much everything but the VO at the moment.

JungHai0Feb 3, 201515 votes

Guys, guys, guys, I think some of us are forgetting, even though this is mentioned below IN this thread. Sona doesn't speak. It shouldn't even be called a VO technically, more of a TO (Thought-Over) I'll quote what Cirrusstrafe posted here.

Now you're getting it!

Remember, Sona is mute. She can only "communicate" with her summoner through a mental link.

So... if all she's doing is thinking about and jamming out to music, then it stands to reason that her thoughts would be influenced as such. Heck, one can go so far as to say that her thoughts are only music, and now that she's in the groove she isn't trying so hard to make them conform to our limited human vocals.

TTRlovesMittensFeb 4, 20158 votes

Actually yeah, you aren't supposed to understand it, but it IS mashed up versions of her old quote system. For example, around 1:30, it sounds like she says "fanf-ends-a symph" which is really close to a recutting of "the fanfare ascends" and "a symphony of justice." At 1:37, it sounds like "uar-er-ime-uet" or "quarter time" and "a sublime duet." All of the quotes are like this, good job Riot!

Also the main reason I picked up on this is A) I've played Sona for a year and a half and B) I like listening to the dialogue of my favorite characters. For example, I also know most of the quotes from the Emerald Herald in Dark Souls II.

EDIT: Oh man this makes me sound crazy, but I just really like her quotes. I can't wait for the hotfixes to go live so I can test out the skin. Sona

HowPlayGAEMFeb 4, 20157 votes

So, basically, its a skin that can't be enjoyed if you have the music turned off :/

Conversely, its a skin that can only be enjoyed by drowning out the rest of the sounds in the game :/

Since this is an ultimate skin, that means Sona won't be getting another skin for 2+ years...

Can you guys update Arcade Sona please? She doesn't have a recall animation and you muted her sounds.

EDIT: You know, most of the complement comes from the synthesizer; was it really necessary to make her speak gibberish? If she spoke actual words, she'd be accessible to those who play their own music or have it at a lower volume...

ExaltedVanguardFeb 4, 20158 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Galetta,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2015-02-03T21:29:22.156+0000)

Hey guys,

I just wanted to jump in and comment on this. We intended for her VO to not be understandable. This VO change was made in order for the VO to not distract or interfere with her music. She has an obvious Daft punk/EDM feel and we wanted the VO to harmonize with that.

The VO is also supposed to be heard with her music. I would hold off on final judgement until you get the whole experience. :D

What's the point of having a VO at all if it's completely and utterly unintelligible?

I understand the reasoning for having some synth to make it "meld" with the music.

But if it's to the point where you can't understand what she's saying, then it's just extra, meaningless noise. Isn't extra, meaningless noise considered to interfere with the music?

The problem isn't that there's a ton of synth. The problem is that we can't understand the basic words under that synth. Does DJ Sona come with subtitles? Cause right now she really needs them.

KoboldFeb 4, 20155 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Galetta,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=ELgn5vMa,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2015-02-03T21:29:22.156+0000)

Hey guys,

I just wanted to jump in and comment on this. We intended for her VO to not be understandable. This VO change was made in order for the VO to not distract or interfere with her music. She has an obvious Daft punk/EDM feel and we wanted the VO to harmonize with that.

** The VO is also supposed to be heard with her music. I would hold off on final judgement until you get the whole experience. :D **

Not to be rude but even if people give feedback once its on live it can't be changed (see skins from NOV-JAN where people feedback was said too late sorry) so telling us to wait doesnt really help except for those on the PBE. (as they are the one's that are given the right to provide feedback for this sort of thing not always but usually nothing is done if non-pbe people have complaints.)

Now having not looked at or heard the skin yet I don't have any judgement on it but I had to say this as the response you have given of "wait until its out" is getting more and more common and when feedback is given it is said to be too late.

ZelnorackFeb 4, 20157 votes

Unfortunately final judgement is way to late for changes. Final judgement is after it goes live, and I don't want to see the backlash when people realize that Sona has illegible lines on a $30 skin. It's okay if the lines are hard to hear, but to make them complete gibberish?

Daft Punk - Instant Crush is a good song to model the voice after. You can clearly hear words being spoken in English, yet you can still misinterpret words.

All I got from DJ Sona's voice with music was "They want fire?" "A league of your life" "Give yourself a baby" "let me smile". I mean... I know I'm wrong on all accounts too.

Listen to Spirit Guard Udyr. "Tough as the turtle!" "United as one!" "Life.. speaks through US!" "Who would stand against us?" "We are filled with might!"

Pulsefire Ezreal: "All charged up." "-Pulsefire systems online- Let's do this." "Grim-dark future, huh? Too easy." "-Ezreal, do you require a map?- No."

Those voices have power behind them. You buy that ultimate skin it feels like an ultimate skin. From the voice to the tiniest of effects. Sona does not have the voice, only the effects; Musical and particle.

Handyman55Feb 3, 20158 votes

She's speaking simlish.

Dryad SorakaFeb 3, 20155 votes

Looks great but I can't understand a damn thing and she's only got 3:04 minutes of VO (SGU has more, and Final Boss Veigar has like 6 minutes)

PurodyuusaaFeb 3, 20155 votes

Oh good, I'm not the only one upset that she has less lines than new Tristana, Veigar's and Janna's legendary skin, and that I can't understand a single word she's saying except 'metronome.'

I hope there's more to it and they just datamined it wrong.

Judge ArcadiaFeb 3, 20154 votes

I am fairly certain she has a few lines in there that are in french. Which would be a HUGE nod to Daft Punk, seeing as they are a couple of musical badass's.

CenturosFeb 3, 20154 votes

She's saying actual words? Sounds more like... more music, actually.

CirrusstrafeFeb 3, 20157 votes

{quoted}

She's saying actual words? Sounds more like... more music, actually.

Now you're getting it!

Remember, Sona is mute. She can only "communicate" with her summoner through a mental link.

So... if all she's doing is thinking about and jamming out to music, then it stands to reason that her thoughts would be influenced as such. Heck, one can go so far as to say that her thoughts are only music, and now that she's in the groove she isn't trying so hard to make them conform to our limited human vocals.

Baron Von BanginFeb 4, 20154 votes

Literally the biggest cop-out I've ever heard in my life.

Celeste BenalFeb 3, 20153 votes

Yup. As awesome as the effect is, the only line I can understand is "Move like a metronome." Less reverb plz.

DisrokousFeb 4, 20153 votes

I love playing support and was seriously thinking about getting this ultimate skin, but after hearing the VO i will 100% not be getting the skin. This is an ultimate skin and seems pointless that you cannot even understand her VO lines. We get all these new champions that have VO lines for items or VO lines with different champions in the game and yet we have to shell out $20 for a skin and cannot even understand her VO lines. Riot Galatta said it sounds better with the music but I disagree, I enjoy listening to my champions voice and hearing what they have to say, I do not want to spend $20 on a skin just to turn off one complete feature of the skin because it sounds terrible (even when paired with the music).