I'd really like to know what ya'll think are the very best-sounding (natural-sounding) software vocoders. I'm personally interested in vocoders that sound most like a natural human voice, rather than ones that sound quite different than a natural voice - robotic or metallic ones for example are cool but not what I'm interested in atm.

Do you mean a TalkBox then?

There is one for free in the MDA plugin bundle.
Check it out.

Good luck

I tried that one and it didnt work for me, like the plugin didnt change the voice at all.

I use Antares' Throat.
It's excellent.
http://www.antarestech.com/products/avox-evo.shtml#throat

well it depends what you use as a carrier.. i find the ableton live one superb and zero latency...

throat is interesting to manipulate the sound of the voice in a unique way

Open a sample voice and a synth. Both in the same FX channel.
Load Talkbox in that FX channel.
Set the vocal sample to the left panoramic (carrier). And the synth to the right panoramic (modulator).

Draw a long note in the vocal. And draw some melodic lines in the synth part. Play now. Did it work?

@Gonga
Lol, mate, i didn't know that was you Dan. Then i think that you already knew this plugin?

Have a good day.
Last edited by IrionDaRonin on Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:24 am; edited 1 time in total

prosoniq's 'orange vocoder' is ridiculously cool...but mac only (and i haven't worked with it in several years).
my old production partner had it, we (over)used it LOL...

I'm sorry, I should have given more specifics. I'm a Winders dude (using SONAR X1), looking for a really high-quality vst vocoder.

Thanks for the responses. So far,

MDA
Antares Throat

Hi Irion, do you have a tune on SC where you've used the MDA vocoder?

NI's Razor has a nice vocoder. It's been floatin around pretty cheap in the marketplace lately.

It seems like you are probably looking for autotune rather than a real vocoder, but if you do want a vocoder then the free MDA one is still one of the best out there. I have tested almost all of them, and it is VERY good. The only one I really liked better is pricey, discontinued, and impossible to find, so go with MDA.

Anybody heard of ELS?
http://www.eiosis.com/elsvocoder

Yah, I too got the impression that you weren't actually looking for a vocoder, but perhaps thought that was what you should call it - correct me if I'm wrong.
That's why I mentioned Throat - it's not a vocoder, but does allow you to manipulate vocals in a fairly natural sounding way.
afreshcupofjoe's suggestion of an autotune (plugin?) seems like it may fit what you were asking for as well.

The thought of a natural sounding vocoder seems like a oxymoron of sorts, but someone will likely come out with one tomorrow and squash that thought.

Natural sounding vocoder doesn't make much sense to me. A vocoder imbues vocal characteristics onto a synth sound (or in more general terms, the modulator onto the carrier). If you're feeding it your voice and a synth, how can you expect it to sound natural?

It does sound more like you're thinking about AutoTune, Melodyne, or possibly a talkbox.

A real talkbox is a speaker with a hose attached to it. You shove the hose into your mouth, play the carrier audio into your mouth, and record the filtered results with a microphone. This isn't something that can accurately be recreated in plugin form, because your mouth can be reshaped in expressive ways which would be unmanageable with a plugin.

+1

A bit pricey, but this is the one for that vintage vocoder sound.

A Talk Box is not a vocoder or even close.

It's an electroacoustic gadget, mostly for guitarists, consisting of a loudspeaker feeding a flexible tube that the performer puts in his mouth, using his/her oral cavity to modulate the audio and recording the result via a microphone.

Returning to the question of the OP, I just bought the Waldorf Lector (they had a 30% discount last Friday) and it's extremely competent, offering the whole spectrum from slightly coloured, intelligible voice to mindblowing mauling.

/Joachim