If you’re looking for a great-sounding reverb plugin, with controls that are a little easier to handle than something like Valhalla’s Supermassive, Room041 is a great option. Times range from 100ms to 6 seconds, and we get a preamp to add some harmonics, with a post reverb EQ.
The sound is surprisingly realistic at lower decay times and sounds great at more stylized settings as well.
Let’s listen to the reverb on some vocals.
With T-De-esser Plus we get a scaled-down version of Techivation’s original De-esser; however, its functionality still offers a great deal of control over sibilance. We get a threshold, Hz. range selector, ratio, a slope between compressed and non-compressed signals, and a monitoring section.
Let’s take a listen and notice how it attenuates sibilance.
GSatPlus is a great sounding and flexible saturation plugin with which you can clip, compress, and distort your vocal. In the saturation section, we can cycle through 4 different characters, and even control the amount of odd or even order harmonics - which is a pretty unique function.
Let's take a listen to the different characters and notice how they affect the vocal.
Baby Comeback is a great delay plugin that has a lot of potential when it comes to vocals. The different styles give you just about everything you need to delay your lead or BGVs - for example, the wide would be a great option for harmonies or vocal doubles.
Let’s time the delay to our BPM, and cycle through the different styles to see how they affect vocals.
This 3-band analog emulated EQ is great for adding smooth curves to a vocal, and accenting some more desired frequency ranges. When using this EQ I like to boost a little of 2kHz, a little of 5kHz with the shelf, and create a shelf at 110Hz.
The drive function also sounds great, and a low-pass fitter around 20kHz helps to reduce aliasing.
Let’s listen to these settings.
Fresh Air is a pretty well know plugin by now - it works incredibly well at brightening up a signal, and this is especially true for vocals. I can see this plugin working particularly well on rap vocals where clarity, detail, and an accented high-frequency range are incredibly important.
Let’s take a listen to it on some vocals with subtler settings.
Magic Switch is taken from Baby AUdio’s popular Super VHS plugin, where it’s used to create a highly modulated and dark timbred chorus effect. If you want a unique chorus, indicated of the 1980s, and tailored toward lofi productions, Magic switch is a great option.
Let’s listen and pay attention to the frequency modulation that the plugin causes.
Channev by Analog obsession is like 6 plugins in one, all organized as a great vocal chain. First, we have our Neve emulation mic pre and 4 band EQ, then a de-esser, followed by a 6-band EQ, then a parallel compressor, a parallel limiter, and finally tape saturation.
Let’s listen to this chain, and use each section to shape our vocal.
If you want a super simple vocal distortion plugin, try Dystortion by Stoff Audio, which includes only a single dial. When engaged the effect reduces the fundamental and creates a strong second-order harmonic - but then odd ordered harmonics become more prevalent as the effect is increased.
Let’s listen and notice the distinct tonality that this distortion creates.
This tape emulation keeps things simple - you get 4 tape types, with neutral being flat, Type 1 attenuating some lows and highs, and the other 2 doing the same, but to great extents. 2nd and 3rd order harmonics begin to form when the meters hit red and can be blended.
Let’s take a listen to how the subtle EQ shaping and harmonic distortion improve the vocal.
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