XILS Lab

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XILS-lab XILS

5000 €149

This recreation of the EMS Vocoder

5000 goes deep on modelling the

original circuits – pin-style band

matrix and all – and adds a few of its

own into the mix as well. The

synthesis here is deep, complex

and… well, very ’70s. If you’re

looking for a modern, digital,

clarity-focused vocoder, this one ain’t

it. But you can indeed pipe your own

carrier signal through those retro

circuit emulations, and the result is

just as modern as you’d expect from

any decent vocoder.

This is a timepiece vocoder

speciﬁcally meant for recreating the

classic effect. As such, you’ll ﬁnd

features like voice smoothing, LFOs,

FM (better named vibrato), 22

graphic EQ bands, frequency and

pitchshifting… the list goes on.

While the modelling quality is

excellent, the practical usage of the

onboard tones don’t get much

further than a Wendy Carlos

Switched On nostalgia trip, but if

that’s what you want it for, this is a

charming little tribute to vintage vox.

xils-lab.com

VERDICT 8.6

TAL-Vocoder

Free

This 11-band Vocoder effect (VST/

AU/AAX) is ’80s all over, thanks to

the onboard synth featuring Pulse,

Saw, Sub and Noise oscillators, with

a slider for each. Other controls here

include Mono/Poly, Portamento,

Oscillator Sync, Octave, Tuning and

Fine Tuning for the Pulse and Saw

oscillators. This onboard synth is

what gives TAL-Vocoder its classic

’80s kick, which sounds great

despite the limited synthesis

controls, but there’s far more tone on

Vocoder plugins

Do the robot – and much more – with this handful of

processors based around that blue-sky, evergreen

vocal effect

MeldaProduction

MVocoder €49

A versatile and powerful vocoder with up to 100 bands, MVocoder works as an

effects plugin (VST/AU/AAX) inserted on your Carrier signal by default, with a

sidechain input adding your modulator into the mix, although you can swap

the carrier and modulator signals at will. The number of bands trades off

quality against CPU, while the original mod and carrier signals can be blended

back into the mix.

MVocoder does vocoding, dual vocoding (carrier modulates modulator signal

in parallel), ring mod, two types of morphing (crossfading but more

combinatory), exciting and inversion. That’s a far more creative possibility than

you’d get in a straight 20th-century vocoder, and it’s good to see some new

modes of inspiration added here. Other controls include envelope times,

‘Whitening’ and Formant Shift, a band matrix, and other perks. Hours of fun to

go as deep as you please, this is a hella solid modern vocoder.

meldaproduction.com

VERDICT 9.2

MUST HAVE!

Reviews | Xxxxxxxxx

ROUND-UP

FMU348.rev_roundup.indd 92 06/08/2019 18:11

Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
Reviews | Xxxxxxxxx FM | ROUND-UP Vocoder plugins Do the robot – and much more – with this handful of processors based around that blue-sky, evergreen vocal effect FM | MUST HAVE! MeldaProduction MVocoder €49 A versatile and powerful vocoder with up to 100 bands, MVocoder works as an effects plugin (VST/AU/AAX) inserted on your Carrier signal by default, with a sidechain input adding your modulator into the mix, although you can swap the carrier and modulator signals at will.
PAGE 2
Vocoder plugins | Roundup offer if you pipe another audio channel through the sidechain input. You can connect an external audio signal through a sidechain routing to get more tone, although for best results, using Input Mode, the routing is complicated to set up in your DAW, requiring the carrier to be in the left channel and the modulator on the right.