Best software vocoder to replace hardware VC340

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I'm trying to clear space in my studio and only seldom use a vocoder.....but when I do, I really like the sound of my VC340. Are there any software vocoders that can get close to the VC340 for the vocoder sound? Years ago, I tried the Orange Vocoder at a friend's studio, but cannot find it anymore. I also tried the Fruity Loops Vocodex, which I liked, but can you even buy that anymore? Anyway, any recommendations would be most appreciated. Thanks! :)

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FL Vocodex is no longer supported as a separate VST plugin, sadly - it got pulled (worth looking though, that might have changed). I had a serious look around for vocoders a few months ago and chose the Melda MVocoder. If Vocodex was still available I likely would have bought that. It's similar price to what Vocodex was - normally $100 IIRC but I got it on sale at $30. A real bargain steal. I toyed around with most of the alternatives and didn't really like most of them. Vocodex is for sale on Plugin Boutique but really not sure if it will be viable - IL no longer sell it as a plugin, so I'd be dubious you won't get burnt if you buy it...

1. XILS have 2 vocoders - I thought they were quite limited and a bit grainy. And silly prices IMO.
2. TAL free vocoder - very grainy. Usable but sorry, a bit of a toy.
3. Rocoder (Papen) - actually quite good. Does more than just vocoding and if you want a proper voice FSU effect then def worth considering. I didn't buy it because I found the interface a bit too cluttered - just too much on board that I didn't really want. Costs more than MVocoder though in the middle price-wise. Just seems full of bloat to me, but I only wanted a vocoder. The XY pad looked useful on it.
4. Orange - can't remember the price, but I remember thinking it was too much for another quite limited and grainy vocoder. Wasn't impressed with the sound at all. It has more of the grunge that you might want if you're used to a hw vocoder though?
5. Softube have a vocoder - I was hugely unimpressed. Very, very limited and sounded rough to me. No clarity even at top bands. Also iLok, so a no-no for me.
6. Arturia have one - I didn't get around to trying that one.

Only Vocodex and MVocoder have up to 100 bands, so they can sound incredibly clean and detailed if you want, but if you reduce the number of bands you can get a more old-school vocoder, and robot voices etc. All the others seemed to be very limited in the number of bands - 20 max, and some of them only in single figures. Really, for s/w that's a poor excuse. I can't see a reason to have so few apart from- they can't be bothered coding them? If you want to imitate an old hw vocoder you can always reduce the bands down to 6 or whatever the VC uses. Ultimately the number of bands has a huge effect on quality of vocoding (not necessarily the character though) and I only found 2 that have 100 bands.

MVocoder has an impressive set of automations and modulations too. I haven't even delved into that yet, but the actual vocoder sounds superb. When I put it on 100 bands it's silky smooth and you can hear every syllable perfectly. Plugin Boutique usually has it on offer. To my ears it's equal top in terms of sound, and one of the best value. But I say check out whether Vocodex is still usable as a plugin outside of FL - it's equally as good as MVocoder.

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+1 for Xils.

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Izotope Vocal Synth 2? Properly the most flexible one out there

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Reason's BV-X Multimode Vocoder received a lot of praise for its analog sound character when it was released.

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Waldorf Lector is also available, but I don't know if it's a good substitute for your hardware.

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https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... ths/razor/

Usually, half price during November/December. Also, part of Komplete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhBfAr6UPfY

Waldorf Lector,already mentioned, is great too. From time to time it goes as low as $34.99 here:
https://audioplugin.deals/lector-a-trem ... y-waldorf/
"A pig that doesn't fly is just a pig."

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Hi

XILS V+ is a clone of the VP330

10 bands vocoder coming with the strings and voices used by Vangelis:

A/B strings comparison

Only 10 bands, but Roland did some tricks for making them really musical and intelligible, tricks we finely reproduced.

If you are looking for vocoders with more possibilities and band numbers, the XILS 5000 (reproduction of the EMS 5000 vocoder) and the XILS 201 (reproduction of the Senheiser VSM 201 vocoder) are currently in sale, ending September 30th !!
Listen to the result:
From Florian Schneider (Kraftwerk co-founder)

A very nice song by Kelvyn Halifax

Best regards
Xavier OUDIN
XILS-lab

www.xils-lab.com

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