KVR Audio

kidslow · Post by **kidslow** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:43 am

I poked through the manuals and those XILS do not amaze me. I'll spend a bit more time with the demos but seems like I'll avoid the GAS this time. It would be a pleasure to get hands on with an EMS 5000 or VSM 201 ... but working with the XILS plugin UIs makes my brain hurt a bit. The choices to render a faithful hardware emulation detract for me. Too many knobs on the 201 UI. It's like a wall of knobs. Not a fan of those types of plugins. The 5000 is a bit easier, but still ...

Guess I prefer a modern interpretation with all the benefits you get from starting fresh in software, rather than putting yourself in an emulation box bounded by limitations posed by physical, three dimensional, hardware choices made a half-freaking-century ago! ... at least when it comes to vocoder plugins.

At this point in the thread, pretty much all the options have been mentioned. MVocoder does seem to stand above the rest. I'm as interested in vocal manglers as vocoders which is why the oVox and VocalSynth have a place for me. Razor is on the shelf until reaktor gets updated.

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:11 am

Arturia's Vocoder V is my favorite. Otherwise the bitwig or Ableton vocoders are fine too.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 3:38 am

kidslow wrote: Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:43 am I poked through the manuals and those XILS do not amaze me. I'll spend a bit more time with the demos but seems like I'll avoid the GAS this time. It would be a pleasure to get hands on with an EMS 5000 or VSM 201 ... but working with the XILS plugin UIs makes my brain hurt a bit. The choices to render a faithful hardware emulation detract for me. Too many knobs on the 201 UI. It's like a wall of knobs. Not a fan of those types of plugins. The 5000 is a bit easier, but still ...

Guess I prefer a modern interpretation with all the benefits you get from starting fresh in software, rather than putting yourself in an emulation box bounded by limitations posed by physical, three dimensional, hardware choices made a half-freaking-century ago! ... at least when it comes to vocoder plugins.

At this point in the thread, pretty much all the options have been mentioned. MVocoder does seem to stand above the rest. I'm as interested in vocal manglers as vocoders which is why the oVox and VocalSynth have a place for me. Razor is on the shelf until reaktor gets updated.

Yeah, I thought XILS weren't very impressive too. TBH I somehow missed Lector - it looks pretty good but I haven't demoed it or anything. Seems it has 100 bands too, so it should be up there in clarity with Vocodex and MVocoder.

kidslow · Post by **kidslow** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 4:42 am

I found Lector very underwhelming, but it has been awhile. Had forgot about the Virsyn vocoders like Matrix Vocoder, but apparently only available on iOS now. The VSTs seem to be transitioned to legacy status on their website. Maybe we'll see a reboot at some point.

jules99 · Post by **jules99** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:22 am

VocalSynth 2 is super flexible, but soundwise it's a bit rough around the edges to say the least.

Harmony from Waves does sound pretty awesome, I've not tried it in terms of workflow, but the sound demos did seem pretty analog sounding.

The Mouth from NI does have its perks, but it being a Reaktor device makes it a bit convoluted for some. It's a shame that NI never made a proper VST for it.

If you want to go crazy with sounds more in the realm of spectral synthesis or just complete noise fests, Madrona Labs Virta is one of the best.

Coconut_Head · Post by **Coconut_Head** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 1:05 am

dubguy99 wrote: Sun Oct 30, 2022 7:10 pm Shame they discontinued Vocodex. It did some fairly unique things, iirc.

Softube and Arturia Vocoders sound great but for reasons that are beyond me, they won't let you use your own carrier signal, which makes them useless for sound design.

Ableton Vocoder and Xils-201 for me.

What do you mean carrier signal? Sidechain input? I have (but don't own) Arturia's Vocoder, but am highly interested in VocalSynth 2 as it's on a huge sale right now and I know one of my favorite vocalists uses it.

damoog · Post by **damoog** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 5:51 am

Softube vocoder easily beats all the competition on awesome sound in my opinion although it lacks some modern features

Vocoders for me are the most pain in the ass to EQ in a mix and softubes is a breeze

Arturia vocoder is great though

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 1:18 pm

Another vote for Razor.

Freaqpeak · Post by **Freaqpeak** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 3:11 pm

Let me ask: Which modern vocoders has VST3 Sidechain input support so that you can input your own external carrier signal?

Too many vocoders focus on voice manipulation and not sound design imho..

Tried a lot of vocoders during the years, but I STILL reach for Orange Vocoder 1 for making sound effects. It's from like year 1999 or something like that (one of my very first VST plugins).

- The most aggressive one by far is Vocodex, but is not making sense to me for a lot of tasks. Does not support VST3 sidechain input. Hard to make softer sounds with it.
- Razor is cool but a bit clumsy since it is Reaktor-based. Does not support VST3 sidechain input (at least last time I checked).
- Orange Vocoder v3. Just demoed it a few times, so I can't say I understand everything it can or can't do. Have to demo it again before I judge it. Feels like it is also focused on voice manipulation too much.

bilrobins · Post by **bilrobins** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 3:29 pm

Melda MVocoder is my most used. Ableton Stock Vocoder good.

CinningBao · Post by **CinningBao** » Thu Oct 12, 2023 10:02 am

cnt wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2023 3:11 pm Let me ask: Which modern vocoders has VST3 Sidechain input support so that you can input your own external carrier signal?
...

- Orange Vocoder v3. Just demoed it a few times, so I can't say I understand everything it can or can't do. Have to demo it again before I judge it. Feels like it is also focused on voice manipulation too much.

OV3 can do 2 inputs, but I was equally unsure about it when it first came out; it just doesn't feel very 'classic vocoder-y'. If you can't be bothered A/Bing I did a video comparing it with the original OV1 and a few others to get a sense of its vocoderyness. I also complain a lot about the potential and what we got in the final product.

sokoleski · Post by **sokoleski** » Thu Oct 12, 2023 2:57 pm

Izotope VocalSynth 2 is my go to !! ALL kinds of voccoding to be had...

(even tho im losing faith in Izotope...but that's another topic)

AbletonS voccoder , just sounds harsh and unpleasant.

TAL- Vocoder is a really nice on e as well....and itS free

...but I LOVE my HW Electro-Harmonix V.256... it soundS delicious !!

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:23 pm

The best and most fun one I've ever had was a MicroKorg. I see the VST has a vocoder function. I haven't tried it, but if it's anything like the hardware - get it.

jamcat · Post by **jamcat** » Fri Oct 13, 2023 12:06 am

If you want to talk vocoder, you have to do it in a robot voice.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Fri Oct 13, 2023 1:40 am

Zynaptiq’s Orange Vocoder is the one that beats ‘em all IMO. Absolute magic.

Let's talk vocoder plugins