If you owned the original An Xiao and walked away underwhelmed by stiff phrasing and robotic Mandarin vowels, An Xiao 2 is a different voice, not an incremental patch, but a ground-up rebuild on the Studio 2 engine that addresses most of what made v1 frustrating. At $79, it's a voice bank we'd actually put on a real track.
This review is for producers and composers already inside the Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro ecosystem who want to know whether An Xiao 2 earns its place or just fills a catalogue slot. We tested it across Mandarin ballads, J-pop arrangements, and English-language pop to see where it holds and where it cracks.
Does An Xiao 2 Actually Deliver on What Dreamtonics Promised?
Dreamtonics built An Xiao 2 from scratch on the Studio 2 engine, released March 21, 2025, three years after the original shipped in May 2022. The generational gap is audible within seconds.
The voice is described as "full and bright... with no lack of passion," covering both tenor and bass tones with enough flexibility to sound convincing across a meaningful range. That's not marketing fluff. We pushed it into low chest-register passages for a slow Chinese ballad and into brighter tenor phrases for a high-energy C-pop chorus. Both tracked cleanly without the tonal collapse that plagued the original at register boundaries.
Five built-in vocal modes, Airy, Chest, Open, Power, and Soft, are available to suit different musical contexts. That's a genuine workflow tool, not five flavours of the same sound.
The promise is mostly kept. The delivery, though, isn't perfect in every language. More on that shortly.
Where An Xiao 2 Shines
The cross-lingual synthesis is the headline improvement. Thanks to Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro's cross-lingual synthesis, this voice fluently supports Japanese, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, and Korean. Six languages from one voice bank is genuinely useful for East Asian pop markets where code-switching between Mandarin and Cantonese, or Mandarin and Japanese, is standard practice in a single song.
We ran an A/B comparison between An Xiao v1 and An Xiao 2 on the same Mandarin phrase. The v1 version needed manual tension adjustments on nearly every phrase-final syllable to stop the pitch from sagging. An Xiao 2 nailed the same phrase on the first pass, with no parameter tweaks beyond tempo sync.
The AI Retakes system built into Studio 2 Pro pairs brilliantly with this voice. We generated six takes of a sustained high-tenor phrase. The variation in breath onset and vibrato depth between takes was wide enough to be useful, not just cosmetically different. Take 3 had a harder glottal onset. Take 5 breathed in, softer, earlier. That's the kind of micro-variation that makes a synthesized vocal feel inhabited rather than printed.
The five vocal modes also earn their place in a real session. Switching from Power to Airy on a bridge verse, then back to Open on the final chorus, took about 40 seconds of editing. The tonal shift was satisfying. No manual EQ needed to sell the contrast.
Where An Xiao 2 Falls Short
English and Spanish are the weak links. Mandarin is clearly where Dreamtonics concentrated their training data. The vowels are clean, the consonants read, and the emotional arc of a Mandarin phrase sits naturally in the voice.
Switch to English and things get annoying fast. Diphthongs in words like "time" and "take" smear across syllables in a way that reads as synthetic even to a non-critical ear. Spanish fares better than English, but Cantonese tonal accuracy, while impressive, can drift on the 4th and 6th tones during fast passages. You'll want to manually check every phrase.
There's also the dependency issue, and it's not small. This product requires Synthesizer V Studio 2 to function. If you're not already on Studio 2 Pro, you're looking at an additional purchase before An Xiao 2 loads at all. The voice bank itself won't open in the older Studio 1 engine. Budget accordingly.
And the storage listing is worth checking: the system requirements list 1 GB available disk space. Real-world install including the full voice banks runs closer to 600MB plus supporting files. Not a dealbreaker, but plan your drive space.
How It Stacks Up Against Other SynthV Voices
The obvious comparison is Solaria, the English-primary feminine SynthV voice that's become a benchmark for Studio 2 vocal quality. Solaria wins on English naturalness, full stop. Her diphthongs and consonant clusters in English don't need the manual coaxing that An Xiao 2 requires. If your project is primarily English-language, Solaria is the smarter buy.
An Xiao 2 wins on multilingual range and masculine timbre. No other Studio 2 voice currently covers Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Spanish, and Korean in one masculine voice bank at this price point. If your session needs a male lead singing in Mandarin with a Japanese pre-chorus and an English hook, An Xiao 2 is your only real option ITB right now.
The other relevant voice is Zhiyu Moke, a rival Mandarin-primary masculine voice on the Studio 2 platform. Moke has a thinner, younger timbre. An Xiao 2 sits heavier and warmer, with more presence in the 200-400Hz chest resonance zone. For emotional ballads, An Xiao 2 is the one we'd reach for. Moke works better for brighter, lighter pop.
Check out our coverage of other expansion-style voice instruments in our MPC Expansion Underground Trap Review to understand how we weight the value-per-license question across different categories.
Is $79 the Right Price for An Xiao 2?
At $79, An Xiao 2 sits in the mid tier for SynthV voices. That's fair, but context matters. V1 An Xiao owners received discounted upgrade pricing, which was the right call from Dreamtonics. If you're buying fresh, you're paying for six-language synthesis, five vocal modes, and full commercial licensing in one purchase.
The commercial licensing is underrated. You're cleared to monetize tracks built with An Xiao 2 from day one without additional royalties or licence extensions. For working composers in the C-pop or J-pop space, that's real money saved.
The catch: you still need Studio 2 Pro as the base. Factor that in if you're not already on the platform. Check the manufacturer's site for current bundle pricing, as Dreamtonics occasionally packages voice banks with the editor.
For multilingual producers, it's worth it. For English-only writers, it's overpriced for what you get in that one language. See how we think about expansion pricing in context in our Does Marco Lys Hybrid 3 Expansion Suit Your Sound?.
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 4.5/5 | Mandarin performance is excellent; English lags noticeably behind |
| Value for Money | 3.5/5 | Fair at $79 if you need multilingual range; weak value for English-only use |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/5 | Five vocal modes are intuitive; cross-lingual switching is mostly seamless |
| Features | 4.0/5 | Six languages, five modes, AI Retakes support, commercial licence included |
| CPU Efficiency | 4.0/5 | Studio 2 Pro engine is well-optimised; no significant load increase over other voices |
| Overall | 4.1/5 | A genuinely improved masculine voice with real multilingual capability and minor English weaknesses |
Alternatives to Consider
Solaria (SynthV Studio 2), The benchmark for English-language Studio 2 singing. Cleaner diphthongs, more natural English phrasing. Wrong choice if you need Mandarin or Cantonese. Right choice if English is your primary language. Check out our expansion review approach in Hybrid 3 Mark Knight Expansion: Worth It in 2026.
Zhiyu Moke (SynthV Studio 2), A Mandarin-primary masculine voice with a lighter, younger character than An Xiao 2. Fewer vocal modes. Thinner chest register. Better for up-tempo bright pop. An Xiao 2 wins for ballads and emotional material.
NEUTRINO (free, Japanese-primary), A free alternative for Japanese-only synthesis. No commercial licence without additional steps. No multilingual support. CPU-light. The right pick if your budget is zero and your sessions stay in Japanese. See our broader plugin value thinking in Glitterball MPC Expansion Review 2026: Fun but Forgettable.
If you're a working C-pop or J-pop composer and you need a masculine voice that can track cleanly across Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese in one session, buy An Xiao 2 at $79 without overthinking it. If English is your primary market and Mandarin is secondary, save your money until Dreamtonics improves the English training data. This voice doesn't lie about what it is: a Mandarin-first voice that travels surprisingly well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to buy Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro separately to use An Xiao 2?
Yes. An Xiao 2 is a voice bank, not a standalone application. It requires Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro to run, and that editor is sold separately. If you're not already on Studio 2 Pro, factor that cost into your total budget before purchasing the voice bank. Check the Dreamtonics site for any current bundle offers that pair the editor with voice banks.
How does An Xiao 2 compare to the original An Xiao?
An Xiao 2 launched in March 2025, nearly three years after the original shipped in May 2022. The Studio 2 engine underneath it is a full generational upgrade. Pitch tracking is tighter, cross-lingual pronunciation is more accurate, and the new five vocal modes (Airy, Chest, Open, Power, Soft) replace the more limited tonal options of the original. If you own v1, Dreamtonics offered discounted upgrade pricing, which was the right move.
Which languages does An Xiao 2 sing in, and which sounds most natural?
An Xiao 2 supports six languages: Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Japanese, English, Spanish, and Korean. Mandarin is where it sounds most natural, with clean vowels and accurate pitch across registers. Japanese and Cantonese follow closely. English and Spanish are functional but require more manual editing, particularly around diphthongs and fast syllable clusters.
Can I use An Xiao 2 on commercial releases?
Yes. Commercial licensing is included with the standard purchase price, so you can monetize tracks featuring An Xiao 2 without paying additional royalties or obtaining a separate commercial licence. This makes it a practical choice for professional composers working in C-pop, J-pop, or any genre targeting East Asian markets. Always verify the current licence terms on the Dreamtonics site in case they update.