MVocoder

Name: MVocoder
Price: 49 USD
Author: MeldaProduction

by MeldaProduction · Vocal Tool · Side-chain vocoder

Not rated yet

MVocoder is a vocoder from MeldaProduction based on analog-style filters, with up to 100 bands.

It takes the carrier from a side-chain input instead of a built-in synth, and can morph between sources. It costs $55.

Best for: Vocals, Keys & Synths, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Pop, Hip-Hop & Trap.

Keywords: sidechain input, synths, vocals, sound design, drums, experimental, auto-gain, classic, CPU-heavy, mid/side, MIDI-controllable, mixing, randomize, rhythmic.

What it does

MVocoder is MeldaProduction's side-chain vocoder, described as "a true analogue-filter-based vocoder." It imposes one sound (the modulator, usually a voice) onto another (the carrier) for robot voices, singing synths and morphs between two sources.

Up to 100 bands: filter banks of up to order 10, from a coarse, classic vocoder sound to a very precise, intelligible one.
Band matrix: a carrier/modulator matrix routes bands freely, with graphs for band distribution and resonance.
Side-chain carrier: the carrier comes in from another track by side-chain; there is no built-in synth.
Vocoding and morphing modes: several vocoding modes, including morphing modes for blending two sources.
Modulation: four modulators that can be an LFO, level follower, ADSR envelope, randomizer or pitch detector, plus multiparameters and MIDI learn.
Multichannel: mono, stereo and M/S, surround up to 8 channels and ambisonics up to 64 channels.
Workflow and safety: A to H preset slots, A to D morphing on an X-Y pad, automatic gain compensation, a safety limiter and upsampling from 1x to 1024x.

MVocoder is sometimes discounted, and a free trial is available from the downloads page. The pages show no version number.

Source: MeldaProduction product page

When to use it

MVocoder is the vocoder for people who want deep control over the bands and are happy to set up routing. Compared with iZotope VocalSynth 2, which plays its own internal voices from MIDI, it needs a carrier track sent in by side-chain, so it is slower to start but works with any synth, pad or drum loop as the carrier. Unlike Nectar 4, it is not a vocal processing chain at all; it is a sound-design effect. Computer Music found it powerful for unusual sounds but less suited to classic vocoder tones.

Best for: robot and talking-synth vocals, rhythmic vocoding with drums as the modulator, and morphing two sources.
Genres: electronic, pop, hip-hop and experimental sound design.
Look elsewhere if: you want a quick vocoder with a built-in carrier synth; VocalSynth 2 is faster to play.
Tip: Computer Music suggests compressing the modulator and adding white noise to the carrier to improve intelligibility, and choosing the carrier carefully since it shapes the result.

What producers say

Reviewers see it as very capable but fiddly, better for experimenters than for quick classic vocoding.

Computer Music (via MusicRadar, 2013) called it "very powerful" with "unusual sounds possible", but found it CPU-hungry at high settings, fiddly to set up and "almost too advanced for its own good."
KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from 1 review (version 11.09), praising the matrix page, the EQ section and a "serious and full sound."
Criticisms: Computer Music noted latency and glitches that limit live use and a manual with little vocoding guidance.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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