KVR Audio

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:29 am

Has anyone else done the comparison on this?

I just got around to doing some vocals with Cubase 5's VariAudio tools and I have to say that for the most often used pitch functions (pitch quantize, length, re-pitch, straighten), VariAudio has a much better workflow. Very fast and intuitive. A real timesaver having these functions integrated directly with the wave editor.

The only thing that I think Melodyne does better (for now, at least) is the pitch increments (cents) which appear to be much finer and more precise in Melodyne. Could be that I haven't found that feature in VariAudio though.

Also gave the new C5 pitch correction plug a whirl. Very good for fast correction, with some very good presets. Does what it's supposed to. (Note: I actually use these tools to actually correct my vocals and create harmonies. I don't do T-Pain/Cher type stuff, so YMMV.)

Cheers
-B

Jay-Producer · Post by **Jay-Producer** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:53 am

Well I find Melodyne unnatural sounding when used on synth lines if that helps.

redshift factor · Post by **redshift factor** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:42 am

But how do they compare in quality?
If Cubase 5 VariAudio has the sonic quality as Steinberg VoiceMachine, then forget about it.

It is cool though, that the technology in Melodyne which was amazing and revolutionary when it was introduced is now standard in the major DAWs. But of course just when Steinberg and Cakewalk have finally (maybe) caught up to Melodyne, it's about to make a quantum leap forward with DNA.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:00 am

(though I keep saying this :roll)

I am about to start the wonderful world of vocals. Though it's not the pitch I'm worried about, I take interest in these threads.

Seems to me, that cubase has implemented a very useful tool here. For people like me who will eventually upgrade to 5, this is a pretty big deal.

When the first bugfix comes out and is generally approved for c5, I'll be in and it is then that I will get a mic and stop doing "instrumental only" stuff.

Thanks Berfab for the info!

echopark · Post by **echopark** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:15 am

If Cubase 5 VariAudio has the sonic quality as Steinberg VoiceMachine, then forget about it.

Variaudio use a algorithm licensed from zPlane. So it's a good quality.

minx · Post by **minx** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:58 am

echopark wrote:
If Cubase 5 VariAudio has the sonic quality as Steinberg VoiceMachine, then forget about it.
Variaudio use a algorithm licensed from zPlane. So it's a good quality.

If you check out the Steinberg Videos on C5 you will see that Variaudio is yamaha technology.Audiowarp in Cubase uses Zplane technology

AKJ · Post by **AKJ** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:27 am

Jay-Producer wrote:Well I find Melodyne unnatural sounding when used on synth lines if that helps.

good joke

qpress · Post by **qpress** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:39 am

I noticed when I detect audio in melodyne some hi freq detail lost. I try autotune demo too and it seems better in this. How about the Cubase 5 variaudio?

redshift factor · Post by **redshift factor** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:50 am

Is this with the new Auto-Tune Evo plugin?

qpress · Post by **qpress** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:06 pm

redshift factor wrote:Is this with the new Auto-Tune Evo plugin?

yes

Jay-Producer · Post by **Jay-Producer** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:57 pm

AKJ wrote:
Jay-Producer wrote:Well I find Melodyne unnatural sounding when used on synth lines if that helps.
good joke

Aint a joke, but if it made you laugh then at least thats something.

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:19 pm

Regarding the quality, I found in my own noodling around with it for a few hours that the quality was very good. The results were at least as good as I would have expected to get from Melodyne.

There were a couple of quirky artifacts that I couldn't account for, but remember that I'm using my own voice which is quirky to start with. But for my money, it was much easier to manipulate (tame) the vocal file in VariAudio and get the desired result.

If you don't have Melodyne, this upgrade is certainly worth the money just for that, IMHO.

redshift factor mentions Melodyne's DNA which is coming soon. And yes, that's really big deal and I'll probably wind up getting that upgrade. But in practical terms, it's not really a function that's going to be used regularly by me for vocals. I would imagine that there are uses for DNA that most of us haven't thought of yet, most likely not the traditional vocal pitch/tune stuff.

Cheers
-B

redshift factor · Post by **redshift factor** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:57 pm

BERFAB wrote:I would imagine that there are uses for DNA that most of us haven't thought of yet, most likely not the traditional vocal pitch/tune stuff.

Yep. Just imagine the MIDI possibilities. Record a part with an electric guitar and play it back as a piano, or a string ensemble. Or dig out your old jam sessions you've long since forgotten how to play and have instant transcriptions. Or finally figure out that funky chord Steely Dan hits in [fill in the blank]...

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:11 pm

redshift factor wrote:
BERFAB wrote:I would imagine that there are uses for DNA that most of us haven't thought of yet, most likely not the traditional vocal pitch/tune stuff.
Yep. Just imagine the MIDI possibilities. Record a part with an electric guitar and play it back as a piano, or a string ensemble. Or dig out your old jam sessions you've long since forgotten how to play and have instant transcriptions. Or finally figure out that funky chord Steely Dan hits in [fill in the blank]...

Does the Melodyne plug currently spit out MIDI from audio? I've missed this feature if it does. VariAudio does this fairly simply, though I haven't tried it yet. I'm working on something now where I may track the vocal with a soft choir, so that'll come in handy.

redshift factor · Post by **redshift factor** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:21 pm

I don't know if Melodyne Plugin does or not, but when DNA comes out (supposedly this month) it will be as Melodyne Editor, an entirely new stand alone app/VST plugin based on Melodyne Plugin. It will be more full featured than the Melodyne Plugin, more like Melodyne Studio, and I am quite sure it will have MIDI (as I know Melodyne Studio does.) The difference between Editor and Studio will be that Studio is multi-track, and Editor is for single files only.

Cubase 5 Variaudio v. Melodyne plugin