In the above thread even among people disagreeing about how much the effect is, there seems to be general agreement that Melodyne changes the file simply by analyzing it (i.e., before any processing - just running the file through it).
I thought I’d check it out on VariAudio, and in my hands, there was NO change to the source file by VariAudio analyzing it - either in segment mode or Pitch/Warp mode.
What I did:
- Lead Vox (LV)
- Copy and bounce LV from Step 1
- VariAudio the clip from Step 2 -Analyze segments - bounce
- Copy/Bounce LV from Step 1 - Phase Reversal- Rebounce
- Route the clip in # 3 hard left to a stereo group, and the clip in #4 hard right to the same group
- Record the output of the stereo group to a stereo audio file
The stereo audio file in step 6 has no signal - i.e., it all nulls, which I take to mean that analyzing the segments in VariAudio does not alter the file.
This was also the case when step 3) was to analyze using Pitch/Warp.
So if the guys at GS are right that Melodyne alters the original file just by analyzing it, before any changes are made to it, then I think all this means that VariAudio has a leg up on it at least in this way.
Do you guys think I did the test right? Of course, even if I did, if the effect in Melodyne is small (which is what the discussion is about there), it might not be that important in practice.
Thanks for any thoughts!