Lifestyle
ACE Music v1 Tops Suno v6 on AI Vocal Music Leaderboard, but Decrypt's Tests Show Mixed Results
According to Decrypt, ACE Studio's ACE Music v1 leads Suno v6 on the Artificial Analysis vocal music leaderboard, 1,160 to 1,144 Elo, but the margin is narrow and gaps remain in niche genres.
About 5 min read
Leaderboard result: ahead, but not by much
Decrypt reports that ACE Music v1, developed by ACE Studio, ranks first on Artificial Analysis's vocal music leaderboard with 1,160 Elo, versus 1,144 for Suno v6, a lead of 16 points.
As Decrypt explains, the AA-Music-Vocal v1.1 benchmark measures the quality of AI songs with vocals: judges, without knowing which model made which track, listen to tracks generated from the same prompt and pick their favorite. Those preferences are converted into an Elo-style rating (a score originally from chess, calculated from head-to-head results); a higher score means listeners prefer the model more.
Decrypt also points out that the lead is relatively narrow and that the two models' statistical confidence intervals overlap. A confidence interval is the range in which a score may fall; overlap means the gap between the two is not statistically clear. In addition, Suno still holds first place on a separate instrumental music leaderboard.
Decrypt's hands-on tests: better in mainstream genres, gaps in niche ones
According to Decrypt, ACE Music v1 can generate full songs from a text description or from lyrics supplied by the user. In Decrypt's tests, ACE consistently produced more melodic and coherent songs in mainstream genres, with vocals that sounded more natural overall, fewer synthetic artifacts and cleaner endings.
However, in a melodic death metal test, Decrypt found that ACE kept producing clean female vocals, lacking the harsh delivery the genre calls for, and often confused metal subgenres; Suno offered more creative arrangements and better stylistic consistency in heavier genres. Decrypt stresses that these results are subjective assessments, not a controlled benchmark.
| Item | ACE Music v1 | Suno v6 (per Decrypt) |
|---|---|---|
| Vocal leaderboard Elo | 1,160 | 1,144 |
| Instrumental leaderboard | Decrypt does not state its rank | Decrypt says it still ranks first |
| Mainstream genre tests | Decrypt says more coherent melodies, more natural vocals, cleaner endings | Decrypt says endings occasionally have odd sounds, repetition or abrupt changes |
| Heavy metal genre tests | Decrypt says vocal style did not fit and subgenres were often confused | Decrypt says more creative arrangements and more consistent style |
Editing features, open-source plans and usage limits
According to Decrypt, ACE's "Idea" feature can turn a basic concept into lyrics and a structured piece, and users can modify the material instead of repeatedly regenerating entirely new tracks. v1.1 Preview first builds a musical score and then generates audio. Users can edit melody and chords, regenerate performances, export MIDI files (a format that records notes and timing and can be edited further in music software), and separate vocals from instruments.
Decrypt notes that the flagship ACE Music v1 is closed-source (its code is not public) and has no public API (an interface that lets other programs connect to it directly), so songs can only be generated through the official website. ACE-Step 1.5, released by ACE Studio and StepFun, makes its code and weights (the parameters obtained after training a model) public and can run on a user's own hardware, but the model is weaker than the closed-source flagship. Decrypt quotes the developers as saying they plan to open-source ACE Music v1 Flash in late 2026.
On usage, Decrypt reports that ACE Music offers a browser app with a limited free tier and paid subscriptions; commercial rights to songs from the flagship model require a paid plan, while ACE-Step offers another free generation option.
FAQ
Is ACE Music v1 really better than Suno?
According to Decrypt, ACE Music v1 leads the Artificial Analysis vocal leaderboard 1,160 to 1,144, but the confidence intervals overlap. Suno still tops the instrumental leaderboard and also did better in Decrypt's heavy-genre test.
Can ACE Music v1 run on my own computer?
Per Decrypt, the flagship ACE Music v1 is closed-source with no public API and can only be used through the official website. The open-source ACE-Step 1.5 can run on your own hardware, but the model is weaker than the flagship.
When will ACE Music v1 Flash be open-sourced?
Decrypt quotes the developers' statement on the official website that open-sourcing is planned for late 2026; Decrypt says the version is meant to balance quality, generation speed and hardware requirements.
Can the generated songs be used commercially?
According to Decrypt, commercial rights to songs from the flagship model require a paid plan. For the actual terms, refer to ACE's official documentation.
Browse the latest news in this topic
Lifestyle
India's Enforcement Directorate Searches Crypto Exchanges CoinDCX and Delta Exchange, Alleging Offshore Routing of Indian Users' Trades
Decrypt reports that India's Enforcement Directorate searched sites in Bengaluru tied to two crypto exchanges under FEMA. The agency alleges Indian users' trades were routed to offshore platforms at a scale of hundreds of millions of dollars. Both firms say they have cooperated and that services run normally.
Lifestyle
Tether Unveils 800-Million-Parameter AI Agent BotPsy, Built for Everyday Tasks on Phones and Other Devices, Beating a 2.5x Larger Model in Tether's Own Tests
Tether has released BotPsy-0.8B, a small AI agent designed to run locally on personal devices for everyday tasks such as settings, messaging and scheduling. Developers can download it for free. Tether's own tests show it beating larger models on several benchmarks, but it suits only low-to-medium-difficulty tasks, not matters involving money, personal information or health, and there is no launch date for a consumer assistant.
Lifestyle
Deutsche Bank Launches Crypto Custody: European Institutional Clients Can Hold Bitcoin, Ether and Three Stablecoins
According to Decrypt, Deutsche Bank's digital asset custody service is live, holding bitcoin, ether and three stablecoins for institutional and corporate clients in Europe. It shows a major traditional bank offering regulated crypto services under EU rules; individuals are not the target clients.
Lifestyle
Bitcoin Core Discloses Three Patched Bugs: The Most Serious Could Have Stopped Miners From Building Block Templates
Decrypt reports that Bitcoin Core, the software behind most Bitcoin nodes, has disclosed three security flaws that are now fixed. The most serious could leave a miner's node unable to assemble new blocks until it is restarted. All three are denial-of-service and privacy issues, not coin theft, and no exploitation was reported. Node operators are generally advised to run the latest version.