Recommend an accurate software vocoder?

[zerocrossing]

please don't buy the eiosis one. it doesn't get updated any more as the dev has moved over to another company.. i would not buy $300 into something like that, nor is it 64 bit on any platform.
It sounds great though but is very convoluted to regarding gui.

Huh. I hadn't heard that. The fact is though, if you want the best virtual analog vocoder emulation Eiosis Vocoder is still it. It's expensive and hasn't been updated in a while... maybe never will, but once I tried it it was clear it was head and shoulders above all others. Dont' get me wrong, I think Vocodex sounds great, but not like an old analog vocoder.

[nickb100]

I think Waldorf Lector is very very good vocoder

[hakey]

The fact is though, if you want the best virtual analog vocoder emulation Eiosis Vocoder is still it. It's expensive and hasn't been updated in a while...

there's a gap in the market for an affordable, properly done analog vocoder emulation...

[Gonga]

Thanks for all the responses!

I can understand the confusion. But I'm an "old guy" (54 Saturday). I wasn't thinking Autotune or Melodyne, I'm looking for a vocoder. I want to be able to play chords, do percussive vocals, and I want it to sound as natural as possible.

I have a vocoder in my Korg Triton Extreme, but I've never tried it because I assume the sound is poor, like the analog sounds it makes (aliasing).

Since 1970s, when Herbie Hancock released Sunlight and Feats Don't Fail Me Now, I wanted to try that sound. I believe he used a Bode Vocoder, but I could be mistaken. Later, Joe Zawinul used one extensively, though it didn't sound as smooth as Herbie's. Here's an excerpt from "I Thought It Was You:"

http://danling.com/studio/sounds/Vocode ... %20You.mp3

So it sounds very natural (though far from "perfect") but can do chords and rapid percussive vocals, etc. If you're not sure what I mean by "percussive," listen to the whole sample. My understanding is the good ones were very expensive because they used additive analog synthesis. When I saw that Razor had one, I thought - I should try it," but I haven't...yet.

Thanks for all the feedback.

MDA
Razor
ELS Vocoder
Waldorf Lector
Vocodex
ElectraX
Waves Morphoder
Pentagon - (sounds very unnatural to me)
Eiosis Vocoder


Lector seems to be the recommendation. Though I already own Razor so will try it. Any other vst plugs with very high sound quality, from a solid company that I should try?

[hakey]

imo, Eiosis is the closest to the classic vintage vocoding sound that you're after.

[hakey]

"I Thought It Was You:"

http://danling.com/studio/sounds/Vocode ... %20You.mp3

great track I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that that was a talkbox, not a vocoder... hmm, second thoughts, I might be thinking of stevie wonder.

whichever he uses, he's mixing different amounts of his uneffected voice with the vocoded signal - I reckon that's where the smooth, natural sound is coming from.

[zerocrossing]

Thanks for all the responses!

I can understand the confusion. But I'm an "old guy" (54 Saturday). I wasn't thinking Autotune or Melodyne, I'm looking for a vocoder. I want to be able to play chords, do percussive vocals, and I want it to sound as natural as possible.

Did you read what you're writing? You're saying, "I'd like an effect that makes things sound synthetic but I want it to sound natural."

[beltrom]

Having Sonar XL you probably already have pentagon. It has a built in vocoder I've used with some success.

[zerocrossing]

"I Thought It Was You:"

http://danling.com/studio/sounds/Vocode ... %20You.mp3

great track I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that that was a talkbox, not a vocoder... hmm, second thoughts, I might be thinking of stevie wonder.

whichever he uses, he's mixing different amounts of his uneffected voice with the vocoded signal - I reckon that's where the smooth, natural sound is coming from.

Well, a "talkbox" is an acoustic vocoder if you want to split hairs, but I think the key to that track is that there's a healthy amount of the original signal mixed back in with the effected sound. Simple to do with any good plug in.

I still stand by the Eiosis Vocoder. It's the closest thing I've heard to a real Roland VP-330 in software. Again, expensive, but once I demoed it, it was pretty clear that if I wanted that sound nothing else but the real hardware would do.

[allofdrab]

great track

+1
I haven't listened to that track in ages. So good!
Well, that clears that up a bit (thanks Gonga), though I still think using the word NATURAL to describe Herbie's sound is kind of problematic.
Anywho, semantics aside, I suspect you should be looking for vocoders that let you input your own (external) carrier signal - for flexibility sake.
Gate, compression, and formant control over the modulator (your voice?) may be good for achieving the percussive quality you want.
Playing with the mix will for sure help with the NATURALNESS(?).

With that in mind I recommend trying out various combinations of the plugins in the Antares Avox toolkit.
I'll actually do some experimenting with it tonight and see if I can achieve something similar to what (I'm guessing) you are after.
Will post examples.

I haven't tried it, but just remembered another vocoder not mentioned is Robotronic.
http://www.sugar-bytes.com/content/prod ... hp?lang=en#
Since it allows external carrier input, you should perhaps not be scared away by the name, but again, I haven't tried it.
I see it has gate and compression control over the modulator though.
Perhaps I'll give it a spin tonight too.

[allofdrab]

Wow, just took a look at Vocodex, looks pretty great, must try it.

[Gonga]

Thanks for all the responses!

I can understand the confusion. But I'm an "old guy" (54 Saturday). I wasn't thinking Autotune or Melodyne, I'm looking for a vocoder. I want to be able to play chords, do percussive vocals, and I want it to sound as natural as possible.

Did you read what you're writing? You're saying, "I'd like an effect that makes things sound synthetic but I want it to sound natural."

It's not an effect that makes things sound synthetic, it's a technology that imparts the timbre of the human voice on a carrier. The carrier can be anything. I want to play it, not sing it. Which means chords, percussive (keyboard-like) attacks, and wild Herbie-like pitch bends. But I want all that to have the timbre of a real voice. Just like Herbie did 34 years ago...

Actually, Herbie can't sing at all. And if you're a huge fan like me, you may realize just by close listening that not even a great singer could possibly double what he plays (listen to "Honey From the Jar"). No way he's doubling that vibrato either. Further, I remember 70's interviews where he said it's all vocoder, and that he used a lot of special processing like parametric EQ. There's no actual voice in there.

It wasn't a Bode (though they also made a knockout vocoder) it was a Sennheiser Vocoder VSM-201. And Herbie won a Grammy for "Best Vocoder Ever"

I'm beginning to get the notion unless I want to spend thousands of dollars and hours to resurrect a VSM-201, that sound is not really currently feasible. But I think I'd be happy doing a Zawinul type thing (not so good timbre) with something less expensive (the ones on e-bay were all over $10,000. One was $25,000).

I'd like to hear an example of any vst that can sound as good as the Sennheiser. The Lector looks most promising to me, but the audio demos aren't impressive at all. The Vocodex sounds not bad.

[deastman]

I have a vocoder in my Korg Triton Extreme, but I've never tried it because I assume the sound is poor, like the analog sounds it makes (aliasing).

You might want to give the Triton a try with an external carrier signal. I've used the one in the MS-2000R, and its pretty decent, so I assume the Triton is similar.

When I do some vocoding, my usual first choices are the old Akai vocoder VST (no longer available), Doepfer vocoder modules, Electrix Warp Factory, or Nord Modular G2. The Electrix actually gets the most use, mainly because its an accessible, dedicated module just sitting in my rack.

[hakey]

love these slightly demented



(I don't hear anything that couldn't be achieved with, eg, the eiosis vocoder + suitable synth + eq)

...

[Gonga]

Yeah I think Joe Zawinul used a Korg, and it didn't sound great, but it was a very expressive instrument. I will try it.

I listened to tons of those vids last night, lots in German of course. Good stuff. But I can't find any sample tracks of eiosis.