Sonnox have announced the release of Voca, a vocal-specific plugin and the latest addition to their Toolbox range of plugins which also includes VoxDoubler, Claro and ListenHub. Voca offers professional sounding vocal processing via a simple interface which is accessible enough for the most novice user but sophisticated enough to appeal to seasoned users. So what is Voca?

The Toolbox range of application focused plugins which seek to solve specific problems, Claro offers EQ which is accessible to all, VoxDoubler offers simple ADT and ListenHub offers monitor controller features without hardware. The problem Voca seems to focus on is getting vocals to sit in a track. It doesn’t do tuning, it doesn’t do reverb and delay,  and it doesn’t use AI. Instead it offers three complementary dynamic processes along with saturation and a soften section to help your vocal sit in the track and get things sounding ‘like a record’.

Auto Levelling

The majority of Voca is concerned with gain. It benefits from automatic gain compensation throughout so you shouldn’t have to spend your time juggling makeup gain against the dry signal, a welcome feature. The first section is possibly the most useful, it’s an auto control on the input level which uses loudness measurements to level the signal before it hits a compressor. In the same way as mixers write detailed volume automation to avoid inconsistent compression effects further down the chain this Auto feature evens out the vocals. It can be switched off or, using the Optimise button it can calibrate its action to particularly quiet vocals. A meter on the knob surround shows the adjustment action in real time.

Compression Section

Next comes the compression section, which presents two serial stages of compression on an XY style control. A fast compressor feeds a slower one, much like the classic 1176 into an LA2A combo. The two axes are ‘Stabilise’ and ‘Squish’ with stabilise applying more compression and more squish applying faster, more aggressive compression.

Saturation

The Saturation section offers more or less saturation by adjusting up or down and side to side changes the timbre of the saturation, from a darker warmth to a sharper focus. UI animations guide setting both the compression and saturation sections.

Finally the Soften section offers a dynamic filtering process which can be used to address ‘esses’ and harshness in the vocal

A recording mode offers a streamlined process which reduces Voca’s latency to zero for monitoring while recording.

Voca is available at a special introductory price for the next 6 weeks. It is discounted by 20% to £71. After that introductory period it will revert to £89.