Sonnox: Voca Vocal Processing Plug-in

I've been wary of "all-in-one" vocal processing plug-ins that claim to deliver "pro-level vocals" for your mixes with minimal work. I've tried a few, and every time I've been better off removing the plug-in and going back to my analog-inspired workflow. That is, until Sonnox released Voca. First off, don't confuse Voca with the type of plug-ins that deliver glossy, reverbed out, super-produced vocal tracks. Voca is only concerned with adjusting levels, compressing, saturating, and de-harshing/essing your vocal tracks. Think of it like an assistant prepping your tracks for mixing.

The Input section is the real magic for me, and its Auto mode adjusts the level of upcoming vocal parts in a very natural-sounding way. If you have a quiet or loud section, play the song and watch for the Optimise button to flicker. Press it if you want Voca to understand that this section needs help setting its internal gain structure. Next, Compression and/or Saturation can be toggled in and out. Both of these are controlled by visually finding a vector within a circle for optimum settings. In Compression, which replicates having two compressors in series, I'll start in the middle and then relax the harder compression by moving left, and then adjust the softer compression by moving up or down. I close my eyes when using this plug-in more than any other I have ever used, as the best settings only become apparent when I am not looking at the computer screen. In the Saturation circle, left and right correspond to darker and brighter, whereas up and down respond to more and less saturation. Close your eyes and set this one too! Backing vocals can be softer, and lead vocals can push through a mix with more of what Voca calls Focus. The last main stage is Soften, where a knob adjusts the amount of de-essing and harshness removal – perfect for cleaning up effects of too much Saturation, or tracks done on cheap microphones. Note that if your tracks need a lot of de-essing that Soften isn't a sharp, clinical tool for this, and using a dedicated plug-in for S removal preceding Voca works better.

There are no presets with Voca, and I think this is smart. I really have to adjust the controls differently depending on the raw source material. Voca absolutely shines on many of the home-recorded vocal tracks I get hired to mix, evening out levels, softening up crummy mics, and bringing the vocals into the mix with focus and power. I started using it on mix work as soon as I acquired a copy, and it got me up and mixing faster – always a good thing! When doesn't Voca work? When I tried it on tracks that I had carefully recorded for The Prids' upcoming album, I kept noticing that Voca would make the vocals a bit smaller, with less frequency breadth and a bit of a flattened-out feeling. Why? These vocals were cut through a fancy chain of a FLEA ELA M 251 [Tape Op #157], Hamptone MP500A preamp [#133], and into a Retro 176 tube compressor [#66] – I even had clip gained words and cleaned up sounds I didn't want with iZotope RX [#123]. They just didn't need the kind of help that Voca offers, but when I turned off the Auto mode – and it only ran the Compression and such – it was working far better! The other (should be obvious) point where Voca will work against you is if you are using Clip Gain to automate vocal levels in different song sections. Voca will even that right out, so chop up your vocal tracks and simply set one section's fader levels lower.

But back to the home-recorded tracks I work with a lot: I find myself using Voca 90% of the time now, as so many of these songs struggle from uneven tracking levels, shifting timbres, and a lack of light compressing while recording. Voca makes them sound a lot closer to a great vocal recording chain, and with that help clients seem even happier, and my time can be spent making all of the song's elements sound even better.

With Voca, we have a plug-in that doesn't look like anything else out there, doesn't act like anything out there, does its job incredibly well, and is a tool that saves engineers and musicians time without compromise. Thank you Sonnox!