It’s such a pain to set up a vocoder (I use vocodex for my vocoder fyi)
First, add a group channel track, and make sure to set it to quadro. Then, go to studio->audio connections, then find the group channel and add child bus-> stereo, then do the same for “stereo Ls Rs”. Then I have to add Vocodex onto that group channel. Then I have to add the carrier and route it to the appropriate child bus, then I have to add the modulator (if it doesn’t already exist) and route it to the appropriate child bus. Then I have to make sure Vocodex is receiving the data and can use it properly (this I don’t have to worry about any more because I changed the plugin default so that I don’t have to change anything, and if not for that I could use an FX chain preset)
It’s just that whenever I use a vocoder, it’s like I really have to plan the whole thing ahead of time. It’s not something I can just try conveniently try out or play with, and adding it COMPLETELY disrupts my workflow and creative juices.
Anyway, I’m not sure what the best way forward here is, but it would be SOOOO NICE if there was a faster way to set up a vocoder. I love using vocoders, but it’s always such a hassle. Does anyone agree? And does anyone have any brainstorms/ideas for how to make it faster?
Seems a little crazy but you could also use another DAW just for your vocoder. I use Logic 9 almost like ‘hardware’ …to run Orange Vocoder.
Run vocal striaght into Logic 9 on left channel. Run synth into Logic 9 on right channel …then output to virtual channel in my Apollo and patch that into Cubase 9.
There ya go…seems actually easier than cubase quadro stuff ha
First, I don’t really trust any free plugins. They’re usually unstable or low quality. Vocodex is the best vocoder I’ve ever used; it’s so powerful compared to other vocoders. I’d like to continue using it. But thanks for trying to help lol
Sorry but your point is dumb “its free so its lame”…just try before talking poopies at something you didnt even tried !!!
Only trust good quality plugins…TAL makes quality plugins (free or paid).
TAL vocoder is free and EASY TO USE and is reknown !
Conclusion, if you wanna use vocodex, use it…even with complicated routing etc (but stop complaining)
BTW that “lol” at the end of your message is weird, lol after saying “thanks anyway” what’s that ???
There are plenty of superb free plugins - suggesting otherwise is just plain ignorant. If fact, two of my favourite plugins of all time (vladgsound No6 limiter and variety of sound ferrictds) are freebies - but 32 bit hence I can’t use them any more. Indeed most variety of sound plug ins stand up to any equivalent commercial plugin (Thrillseeker compressors are excellent) sadly 32 bit again though.
As others mentioned, that is not true, and a very presumptuous statement unless you have extensively used the many Vocoders that are free as well as commercial. Educate yourself about why developers charge for VST’s and why others remain free. It has nothing to do with quality or it being “stable.” Limiter No. 6 is a good example. Since it’s “such a pain” I would suggest several that don’t require the Quadro set up. As mentioned Tal Vocoder is very good. Waves Morphoder is a great general purpose vocoder.
The FREE Blue Arp IMO has more features/options, and goes in more depth than the $99 Vocodex. But you may not care for the additional features, the GUI, or it may not deliver your desired audio objectives as easy or maybe not at all. For myself, I must look past the GUI and hear the results.
My favorite, granted it’s not free, is NI’s Razor mostly because I love the sound. (yes that’s very subjective), and it just fits with my production the same way Lexicon reverbs or a UAD Plate 140 seem to work so easy. I would pay $200 just for Razor! Ironically, some users don’t even know its a vocoder.
I will dog pile on to the Razor recommendation. Makes SO many great sounds (synth, effect (incl. vocoder), etc.) Also, I would say that Cubase is not the reason why the setup is difficult. The reason for the difficulty is the vocoder itself so Templates or Track Presets (as already mentioned) seems to be the answer unless willing to try a different vocoder. Lastly, while I wouldn’t trust just any free plug-in out there (you never know what the installer might be doing), a free plug-in from a reputable company can be considered safe to at least give it a try. There are some really high quality free plug-ins out there! A lot of the better developers are offering some free goodies. True, they are trying to get you to create an account and visit their website, etc., but it is worth giving a try if they are a reputable company (i.e. safe to install) and sometimes the plug-ins are actually really good. I have a few that I have kept installed and actually use (iZotope Imager comes to mind).
I agree. Tal makes reliable products and indeed releases some of them for free to get attention.
99% of my vsti are paid products by well known vendors, but TAL is on the system too.
No prob at all with those.
And they sound very competitive.
by the way. I use a vocodor like e.g. in reaktor just by making a midi channel and route this to an efx channel where reaktor acts as an insert-efx in cubase ??
Maybe an idea to think of ?
I do. And it helps a little. But there’s still a lot that it cannot do. I wish there were group track presets and they had the option to have child buses activated by default… unfortunately, that option doesn’t exist (at the moment), so there’s still a lot of annoying work to do.
Didn’t realize this was such a sensitive subject LOL
I never said “it’s free so it’s lame”. Being free doesn’t mean it’s going to be lame; however, most free plugins are lame. Correlation doesn’t equal causation. But because of the correlation, I would say a free plugin is more likely to be bad. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any free plugins out there that aren’t bad, I just haven’t really found any.
I’ve installed plenty of free plugins, and they’ve all been “meh” at best. I’ve used a lot of vocoders, and I really don’t think I’m going to find a vocoder as powerful as Vocodex, especially in a free plugin.
Actually, I think perhaps YOU need to do your research. It’s very “presumptuous” of YOU to assume that I haven’t done my research or extensively used many free vst’s/vocoders.
