Best Vocal Plugins

bberg

Hi everyone, what are your go-to plugins for making vocals shine?

highmtn

Pultec equalizer and LA-2A or 1176 compressor-limiters by Universal Audio.

streeter

Any of the CLA stuff produced by waves. Vocal rider is an awesome tool as well.

bberg

There are also some super-awesome FREE PLUGINS (I don't like to spend much money on software):

If a female vocal is thin or lifeless you can make it much punchier with Ruby Tube (http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:RubyTube)
One beast of a compressor for vocals is Blockfish (http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5)
The same guy also makes a great De-Esser called Spitfish (see above)
Another great sounding super-easy compressor is Klanghelm DC1A (http://www.klanghelm.com/DC1A.php)

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streeter

The CLA ones I have found make a huge difference. PHIL Maher got me onto them. Awesome results and extremely user friendly.

bberg

@blondiewales
From what I've seen, the Sonar X3 plugins are super awesome! Have you seen those tricks here: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov09/articles/sonarworkshop_1109.htm

bberg

A bit off topic, but I think some training is better for mixing skills than any plugins could be;)

JusticeGem

iZotope does the work for me

Furious_Phil

Yeah, I've been seriously looking into Izotope Ozone 8 lately as well!

[Deleted User]

I'm with bberg, If you don't have a good sounding dry track, what's the point of enhancing it, and let it be known that I don't believe in using software such as auto tune. I would rather work harder to sing something correctly than rely on using it.

Peace, Tony

Furious_Phil

I totally agree with that, I was going on the assumption that the musicians were ready for it and doing their best, and that the person mic'ing everything up knows what he/she is doing, and that you had ended up with a very solid dry track foundation.

Izotope Ozone 8 can sample the frequencies of the artist's previous albums, or use another album/song as a benchmark, and auto adjust everything to match it.
This can be a wonderful place to start to add your own stuff, or just leave it.

[Deleted User]

For me, I only use 3 effects/enhancements on my vocals, and that would be delay, chorus, and reverb. And sometimes just a touch of reverb, and chorus unless the song specifies a particular effect like phase, flange, etc..........and I don't want to have to drag all that stuff to the club/bar to recreate those sounds. I guess I'm old school, I still wish we had analog lol.

Peace, Tony

Furious_Phil

Yup... that's why I use the Helicon VoiceLive Play now... I can bring that sound wherever I go. It's DLC hardware, not a plugin... but can be easily put in the chain.
I like the doubler, but tend to use reverb very sparingly, as it tends to place vocals way back in the mix.