Your experiences tracking vocals with real-time effects

[saltychoklit]

Hi Everyone,
I'm just getting started recording vocals with my Audient iD4 which allows me to monitor the output of my DAW but which does not have real-time DSP based effects. I've watched some tutorials where singers are able to record with real-time effects using interfaces with built-in DSPs (such as the Apollo Twin X Duo) and I'm curious about your experiences.

Does recording vocals with real-time effects in your monitor mix give a better performance? Is it worth it in your opinion to shell out the extra $1,000 for an interface with real-time effects?

Best regards!

[vurt]

been a while since ive recorded any vocalists, but ill give my thoughts

it depends on the individual vocalist of course, but id say the majority liked to hear at least "some reverb"
this seemed to get a good performance from them.

rather than spend the money, then find it's not helping, try just loading a basic hall reverb on to the channel you are recording to. if the reverb is too much maybe try a delay with very short "time/delay" for a similar sound.
this won't be recorded over the vocals, leaving them dry to process property later.
if you find it helps some, but latency is an issue, then you can decide if the investment is worth it to you

[zerocrossing]

Hi Everyone,
I'm just getting started recording vocals with my Audient iD4 which allows me to monitor the output of my DAW but which does not have real-time DSP based effects. I've watched some tutorials where singers are able to record with real-time effects using interfaces with built-in DSPs (such as the Apollo Twin X Duo) and I'm curious about your experiences.

Does recording vocals with real-time effects in your monitor mix give a better performance? Is it worth it in your opinion to shell out the extra $1,000 for an interface with real-time effects?

Best regards!

That's what I do. I have an older Apollo Firewire model and it works like a charm.

[saltychoklit]

Thanks vurt and zerocrossing - that's useful feedback.

Have either of you ever used real-time autotune in a monitor mix while tracking vocals?

[vurt]

i never tracked with autotune.
tbh, i only used it at all a couple of times, i was doing alternative rock mostly, so a bit rough around the edges was desirable.

[saltychoklit]

Lol - Close enough for rock and roll baby!

[cryophonik]

I used to track all of my vocals through an external channel strip on the front end to add a touch of EQ, compression, and de-essing, but I now use an Apollo X6 and I track vocals with some of the Unison preamps and they work great. My primary goal is to capture clean vocals on the way in that I can process after the fact. I give the singer a little reverb in her headphones, but it's on a send so it's not recorded.

As for recording with real-time autotune, no I would not do that or suggest that at all - it totally messes up the singer's perception and can throw them off because the artefacts they hear through the headphones will clash with what they hear coming out of their mouths, skull resonance, etc., not to mention the latency that autotune will introduce. The best option IMO is to always get the best takes possible at the source and minimize the amount of post-recording correction that you need to do after the fact.

[saltychoklit]

Hey cryophonic - that makes total sense. Thanks for the insights, much appreciated!

[cryophonik]

No worries. I should add that it could be different if you're tracking your own vocals and are comfortable with what you're adding to your own vocals. And, I could see where there may be times when it could be advantageous to layer on the effects during recording, particularly in situations where you're layering on some obviously heavy effects and need to adjust your vocal performance in real-time to get the sound you're after and have the effects respond the way you want them to, if that makes sense.

I just know from my own experience working with other singers is that they almost always want their headphone mix to reflect what they actually sound like with no weird effects, delayed timing/latency, etc.

[saltychoklit]

That makes sense. So far, I've been recording my own vocals and part of the motivation for asking the original question was that I was not thrilled with the sound of my own voice while tracking!

But I suppose that's normal and I'm thinking that the way forward is to focus on recording the best vocal take I can without worrying too much how the raw vocal sounds and then use doubles and effects, etc. to make it sound good and sit well in the mix.

I'm going to stick with my Audient iD4 + a touch of reverb for the monitor mix and not worry too much about the fancy DSP based effects for the moment.

Thanks to everyone - you guys just saved me from buying $1,000 + in new hardware!

[BONES]

I've used realtime effects on my vocals on stage but I never bother when I'm recording. If you want a cheap device that has the DSP, try Yamaha's AG06.

[saltychoklit]

Thanks Bones. The Yamaha AG06 is a cool looking interface - i'll check it out.