XILS V+
by XILS-lab · Synth · Roland VP-330 string machine and vocoder
Not rated yet
XILS V+ recreates the Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus, combining a strings section, a human voice section and a 10-band vocoder.
A top-octave-divider oscillator gives 49-voice polyphony with BBD ensemble, reverb and phaser, for €49 on sale (about $55.64).
Best for: Keys & Synths, Vocals, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Pop, Ambient & Cinematic.
Keywords: strings, ensemble, vintage, polyphonic, choir, 70s, arpeggiator, BBD, classic, analog, hardware emulation, pads, analog-sounding, cinematic, monophonic, paraphonic, sound design, subtractive.
What it does
XILS V+ models the Roland VP-330 string machine and vocoder and extends it with modulation, effects and an arpeggiator. The developer's summary: "Strings, Human Voices, 10 band Musical Vocoder."
- Vocoder: 10-band vintage vocoder with an analog-like pitch tracker, adjustable attack and release, filter bank settings, spectrum freeze and a "water" effect.
- Strings: top octave divider string section with seven filters and adjustable formant and filter shape.
- Human voices: Male 8 and Male/Female 4 choir sections with up to 14 filters and formant control.
- Oscillator: an aliasing-free top octave divider giving 49 voices of polyphony.
- Effects: BBD vibrato for the vocoder and voices, the ensemble chorus with dry/wet mix, a vintage reverb and a resonant phaser, in a true stereo engine.
- Modulation: up to six assignable modulation nodes with 14 sources and 24 destinations.
- Playing: mono or poly (paraphonic) attack with velocity over attack speed, a glide that moves all notes together, an arpeggiator with "broken" patterns and a virtual keyboard whose notes save with presets.
Version 1.6.1 supports NKS. A demo can be downloaded and a 15-day full demo licence is available. All parameters can be assigned to MIDI CCs.
When to use it
XILS V+ is the pick for the specific late-70s VP-330 sound: string-machine pads, choir voices and a musical vocoder in one instrument. Compared with Omnisphere 3 or Pigments 7 it does far less, but it is dedicated to this sound, closely matched to the hardware, and much cheaper. Its vocoder is simpler than the one in XILS 5000, which suits classic robot and choir vocals more than deep band re-routing. Unlike Diva, it has no general analog synth engine, so it fills a gap rather than replacing an all-round synth.
- Best for: vintage string-machine pads, ensemble choirs and classic vocoder parts.
- Genres: electronic, synth-pop, ambient and cinematic music.
- Look elsewhere if: you want a general-purpose synth (Pigments 7, Diva) or a vocoder with deep band routing (XILS 5000).
- Tip: use the keyboard split to play strings and voices on different halves, and turn off the hiss for a cleaner sound.
What producers say
Reviewers found it a close match for the VP-330 with far more control, especially praising the strings; early versions had bugs that the developer fixed quickly.
- Sound On Sound (2013) compared it with an original VP-330 and found the two could sound very similar, praising the extra control, the arpeggiator and fast developer support.
- Tape Op (issue 106, 2015) praised the ensemble effect and vocoder, and called the strings "the best sounding '70s-style strings" it had heard from a plugin.
- Criticisms: Sound On Sound found the vocoder more prone to noise than the hardware, uneven phaser and reverb levels, a matrix where common routings take two slots, and some crashes in the version tested.
Where to buy
- PluginFox: $49 (regular $149)
- AudioDeluxe: $49 (regular $149)
- XILS-lab: $55.64 (regular $203.25) (Listed at €49 (regular €179); converted at €1 = $1.1355 (ECB rate, 29 Sep 2026))
- Best Service: $149
- Plugin Boutique: $159
Tutorials and reviews
- XILS V+ versus hardware : Human Voices
- XILS V+ versus Hardware : Strings
- XILS V+ versus Hardware : Glide And Layered Sounds
- XILS V+ vocoder tutorial: LIVE
- XILS V+ Tutorial Vocoder : Logic
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