Really? That can’t be avoided?? Seriously?
Even when no (not one) effect of VocalChain is checked it takes half a second until it reacts. (while recording/monitoring)
What kind of huge code monster is there under the hood?
When I load my Izotope Neuron or Ozone up to the hilt with EQs, effects, compressors etc. it doesn’t produce any noticable latency at all!
In 2025, with all our fast hardware, this is like a bad joke.
Awarded rant of the day… 
FWIW, the channel latency with VocalChain, set as insert, is this one, which isn’t exactly half a second :
Beside this, Neutron is labelled as a “Mixing Suite” and Ozone as a “Mastering” one, this, by Izotope itself. So, I doubt that you can use as easily one of them without any latency when tracking. 
But I could be wrong, of course. So, could you post a screenshot similar to mine that shows the channel latency when one of them is set as an active insert on an audio track ?
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Since we can manually rebuild the things that happen within VocalChain resaonably well, we can see where all this latency comes from:
- Imager
- PitchCorrection
- DeEsser (2*)
In VocalChain everything is “always on”, ie. the latency of each module is always there, whether you have it activated or not.
It is not a tool for recording. It is better used for post-recording work.
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I think, exactly THIS is the part other vendors like iZotope have solved in a better way.
Other than that, the VocalChain is a great plugin, IMHO.
I can understand that design decision, though. It is a Cubase plugin after all and in Cubase, when a plugin sends a signal that its latency has changed, there will be a little hiccup. So if users switch on and off modules inside the plugin Cubase goes hiccs, hiccs, hiccs, …
It is the same when you use a plugin chain: bypass plugins => no hiccup but latency remains; turn off plugin => latency removed but hiccup.
They chose what they deemded to be the lesser of two weevils.
I appreciate the award,.
But here you go:
Keep in mind Neutron is packed, all possible slots are used.
VocalChain is e m p t y .
Granted, it’s not half a second, but feels like an eternity, when tracking.
I hear you, it’s not for tracking.
But the iZotope thingies can do both easily, and they are known for being hardware hungry.
For me VocalChain is just a horizontal channel strip (and an overpromise.)
And not a clever tool for quickly make a singer feel good while tracking.
Yes, it’s not for tracking, tracking is a mysteriously complex topic for Steinberg all of a sudden.
Quote Steinberg:
VocalChain is a plug-in dedicated to modern vocal processing, containing various modules for different aspects, such as cleaning, adding more character, and typical vocal effects.
(Not a word about being postpro ONLY.)
Quote Steven Jobs: You’re holding it wrong.
Interesting topic actually and it resonates with previous complaints about the new Shimmer and StudioDelay plugins being inefficient CPU wise.
There are a lot of optimization that Steinberg can do, yes please !
On a constructive note, I noticed many plugins still use CPU whilst deactivated in the mixer (blue button) and ONLY properly deactivate when the GUI is opened and the top left button is disengaged.
This is one thing that puzzled me, I thought it would be one same bypass but it isn’t.
So I sometimes track with some plugins whilst deactivating others.
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I noticed many plugins still use CPU whilst deactivated in the mixer (blue button) and ONLY properly deactivate when the GUI is opened and the top left button is disengaged.
The instructions are right there when you hover over the bypass button.
click for bypass, alt/click for disable.
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Interesting !! I never noticed that, big thanks for pointing this out !
Then I would highly suggest to Steinberg to colour code the button state differently so for example a bypassed state is yellow whilst off is greyed out, that would be much more obvious.
Cheers again for this top helpful tip.
They are actually different…but yeah, two shades of grey rather than a more obvious difference.
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You scored two helpful tips 
Indeed I had missed that too, perhaps too subtle for my 45yo eyes.
I am quite sure this will have been missed by many others so I hope they can see this post and that we can fix this in an update.
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You’re welcome… 
Correction : VocalChain seems empty. Excerpt from a previous post of @Johnny_Moneto, who knows few things when Cubase is involved :
But I admit being surprised by the little latency that Neutron 3 shows compared to VocalChain in the same context. This said, even a 35 ms latency is far too much for tracking, in my experience, and contrarily to your claim :
But to each his own, as usual, keeping in mind that the Neutron products line from Izotope has been designed and is sold as a Mixing Suite, and for a reason. Beside this, I’m wondering if one would get the same latency with its last generation, without forgetting that VocalChain costs 0€/$ for a Cubase user. I’ll leave it at that…
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I don’t find it surprising at all given the kind of effects that are included in Neutron.
The effects that I listed in my screenshot work with look-ahead or, in case of pitch correction, need some time. Only the Imager has such a high latency that I tend to think it is not fully optimized.
Aynway, if you put together Cubase effects of the kind that are present in Neutron you would also end up with a rather low latency.
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