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What are your favorite plugins for improving male vocals?

I’m usually mixing live vocal recordings, not pristine studio recordings, and usually working under a time crunch, so I get a long way towards a solid sound with with CLA Vocals “Rock Male Dry” or iZotope Neutron “Basic Male” plus a good reverb. If the vocalist has weaker mic technique, I’ll throw on Waves Debreath.

Then, of course, there’s Melodyne.
 
Izotope's Nectar 3 is about to be released. Looks like it could be a great set of tools for vocals.
 
Do you know why this thread is turning into a full catalog of all the plug-ins on the market?

Because unless you specify what the frick is wrong with the vocal in the first place, you're going to get people listing everything from rose fertilizer to custard mix.
 
^ I didn't intend for that to sound as nasty as it did, by the way - just saying, I mean, you know, like, what's the specific issue? There's no one-size-fits-all answer, in other words.
 
I don't mind the catalog aspect. I was looking for a general overview, don't know what is/isn't out there. I was curious if there was more stuff aimed specifically at vocals like Nectar which I just found out about here and through the sales. If there's no omni plugin, what people prefer to use interests me. I trialed Nectar 2, wasn't too pleased, but I'll give Nectar 3 a try too. Looking forwards to it.

I have Melodyne here for pitch correct. Though I am always curious about Antares nowadays. I remember when they first came out with their box I tested it out, it was impressive if electronic.

Let's see.. specific.. Is there a plugin that will fix the issue of Bing Crosby sounding like Bing Crosby rather than a more operatic and biting voice? Can I haz the Bing to Fling VST?
 
@puremusic : My experience is, that among the countless plug ins out there there are in fact some that are extremely well suited to treat male vocals.
I also named several with an explanation, why i think they are convenient.
However, since the moderation is afraid that this thread turns into a catalogue of all plug ins out there, i deleted my post.
While some may think that the use of a forum is to share experiences, we should never forget that the most important thing is to avoid upsetting moderators.
 
I would happy to hear about these via PM if there's an issue with it being posted on the thread if that would be alright. :)
 
I agree I always like to hear what plugins other people are using for certain tasks, I usually end up learning about plugins I wasn't aware of.
 
I'm assuming that you don't really mean improving the quality of the vocal, but improving the quality of the sound and how it fits into the mix? If so, you really can't go wrong with the Scheps Omni Channel plug-in from Waves. It's an all around channel plug with multiple movable sections (preamp, comp, eq, de-esser, gate) that will improve the sound of vocals and any other instrument you can think of. But, especially for vocals, it has two de-essers built in. I took one of my vocals and started with one of Andrew Scheps's vocal presets and the difference was night and day. From there you can tweak to your heart's content.
 
There is no specific channel, EQs, Compressors, Deessers, Saturators, they are all tools, and you can use anyone you like and make it sound amazing.
 
@puremusic : My experience is, that among the countless plug ins out there there are in fact some that are extremely well suited to treat male vocals.
I also named several with an explanation, why i think they are convenient.
However, since the moderation is afraid that this thread turns into a catalogue of all plug ins out there, i deleted my post.
While some may think that the use of a forum is to share experiences, we should never forget that the most important thing is to avoid upsetting moderators.

That's too bad. I enjoy reading each person's rationale for selecting one tool over another.

It's kind of why I come here, actually.
 
The UAD plugins are ones I've wanted to try for awhile. I'm sure someday I'll see someone selling their kit of them at a price I like and dive in, as long as my pockets haven't been emptied by the latest libraries. It's probably handier to use their tape plugins than an actual reel to reel though I still have that on my list for the future too.

I'll take a listen to Waves stuff again, it's been awhile since I tried their stuff my perspective will be different now, they have so much.
 
@puremusic

I think the most important thing you can do to improve vocals (or anything for that matter) is subtractive EQ. Figure out what frequencies are unattractive or unneeded, and remove them. From there, it’s your choice of colouring (additive EQ, drive, saturation), de-essing, compressing, etc.

With that in mind, the plugin that gets used first (and the most often) is Logic’s Channel EQ.

Hope that’s not too boring, but it's the truth :)
 
However, since the moderation is afraid that this thread turns into a catalogue of all plug ins out there, i deleted my post.
While some may think that the use of a forum is to share experiences, we should never forget that the most important thing is to avoid upsetting moderators.

No need for a flounce-out!

I posted as a private citizen. That wasn't a moderation post, and it wasn't directed at you personally, it was a comment on the whole thread.

Again as an individual, I find threads where someone asks a vague question and everyone responds by listing what they've bought to be somewhat frustrating.

Let's see.. specific.. Is there a plugin that will fix the issue of Bing Crosby sounding like Bing Crosby rather than a more operatic and biting voice? Can I haz the Bing to Fling VST?

See, now we're getting to an answerable question.

Yes, you can use a compressor to take away his dynamics, distortion to make it sound nas-tee, EQ the upper midrange to make it sound harsh, and then run the whole thing through my favorite plug-in: the Frodgniq X&14XL Pro version 2 (version 1 was buggy).
 
Do you know why this thread is turning into a full catalog of all the plug-ins on the market?

Because unless you specify what the frick is wrong with the vocal in the first place, you're going to get people listing everything from rose fertilizer to custard mix.

LOL. And it's why, as the home hobbyist market grows exponentially, and some developers create increasing amounts of VST marketing gimmicks, a lot of these threads become laughable. It's not necessarily bad, but misleading a casual user by implying a combination of secret VST mojo, when the concepts, tools and technology have existed in the past, does expose some threads as...tiresome.

IMO it's a reason why professional ME's (professional like we all know who they are) stopped posting in certain other forums. The thrust has morphed from experience, skill, audio, and procedures to VST Tool-of-the-Month, shoot-outs, presets, and long effect chains that often end up counter-productive. Bob Katz among several others years ago gave up contributing in forums by discussing concepts and procedures with bedroom newbies dispensing advice about the new limiter-of-the-month.

Let's see.. specific.. Is there a plugin that will fix the issue of Bing Crosby sounding like Bing Crosby rather than a more operatic and biting voice? Can I haz the Bing to Fling VST?
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Thanks for being more specific. I would start with tracking. The selection of the mic is a good start, not to mention room, position etc. If you don't have a microphone cabinet, you can try Antares Mic Modler, but the modeled mics IMO are a far cry from the real thing. Like maybe only 50% there. I haven't used it in 15 years, but do remember using the modeled Manley Reference Gold on lots of vocals.

Have you thought of taking a soloed vocal track of a male vocal you love and via some EQ tools such as ProQ2 imprinting the EQ characteristics on the Bing Crosby?

Finally, find an EQ with very narrow Q. Waves Q is a good start. Massenburgs UAD MDWEQ5 would be better. Best to just spend hours, perhaps days learning by trial and error what manifests best results. Subtractive EQ. It's worked for me, but no guarantees. It depends on the problem.

That's too bad. I enjoy reading each person's rationale for selecting one tool over another.

I used to enjoy that too. Especially from professional mix engineers and mastering engineers who explained their rationale. But it seems these days most are gone, and now it's much more tool/brand focused as opposed to concepts and procedures. Our VST market is saturated, competition is fierce, and it seems the thrust is more short-cut tools for the lazy who desire instant gratification.

There is nothing wrong with that, as long as it works, but why then do these posts occur more often than ever before? Something isn't working?
 
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