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Comment by nprateem | Hacker News Reader

Any good software vocoders out there?

Yeah, there’s a few, and I probably should have included more plugins. I don’t mind the built in Ableton vocoder. The built in Logic Pro one is a bit average. I like the XILS 201 plugin, but it’s not as nice as many of the hardware vocoders I tested. I guess it depends what you‘re after and how much vocoder you need.

(Note that the XILS 201 plugin requires iLok. I think iLok sucks.)

Fl studios "vocodex" is likely the most advanced vocoder there is.

128 bands, band redistribution, ability to further route using patcher, just look at its manual to see :)

Though its shrouded by the standard "FL is for rap dumb dumb" stigma. Marketing is one hell of a drug.

Thanks! I’ll give it a listen. Number of bands doesn’t necessarily dictate the quality of results — the Electro-Harmonix V256 has 256 bands, and it’s not even in the top 5 out of the vocoders I tested, imo.

Definately, Vocodex is probably one of the few vocoders you can turn to if you want something specifically uncharacteristic of a classic vocoder sound.

I really like Arturia's though it is a bit finicky, a CPU hog, and takes some post processing to clean up.

I feel like that’s a theme for Arturia’s plugins. I have their 1176 compressor and some other stuff. They’re nice, but use tons of CPU and can be a bit flaky at times.

For stuff that doesn't need sidechain I run it in AudioGridder and that resolves the issue but the vocoder needs sidechain.

The built-in one in ableton is fine by me

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