The Sound Board

The human voice seems to be on the mind of several developers these days. Synth V, the new Waves plugins ... and now Softube with the release of their latest: the Softube Vocoder

"Deployed by the military to conceal voiced messages during World War II, the vocoder has had a hidden hold on the music world since the 1970s. From Electric Light Orchestra to Imogen Heap, Daft Punk to Herbie Hancock, Kraftwerk to the Beastie Boys, Laurie Anderson, Kanye West, Mogwai, and so many more, diverse artists have used vocoders to excellent effect. Now, Softube fans can vocalize their unique artistic vision with Vocoder.
Vocoder features a six-voice carrier synth with MIDI capability and an easy-to-use Attack Hold Decay Envelope. The unusual and inspired Freeze section adds to Vocoder's creative potential. Users get the feel of vintage vocoding machines coupled with Softube-quality sound, workflow, and innovation. And a chance to let their vision sing–through any source."

- A superb six-voice polyphonic carrier synth with four selectable waveforms and MIDI capability
- An easy-to-use Attack Hold Decay Envelope
- A unique Freeze section that allows rhythmic hold of certain formants manually and via MIDI Notes or a DAW Sync
- The look and feel of vintage vocoding with Softube innovations
- Create classic vocoder sounds or one-of-a-kind creations

Intro price €79, regular price: €99

This has been out in UAD form for quite a while - maybe the native version is new though?

TBH I'm not a huge fan. Best vocoder I have is Arturia's, that's a real hidden gem.

Had this since it came out on UAD, one of my few UAD-regrets I must say. Favourite vocoder so far is actually the free TAL one. Exploring the Cherry Audio one at the moment...

I (uncharacteristically) passed on the Softube Vocoder, both native and UAD. I demo'd the UAD version and it's good, but not great, and I want great. Actually, what I want is the Orange Vocoder I remember from years ago. My memory may be playing tricks on me?

There is a rumor that Zynaptiq will port it to Windows.

I foolishly tried the demo version of the Arturia Vocoder, it is awfully well done.

In the meantime I use TAL.

I'm still using V6, and updating to V8 makes no sense to me, the only new models that interest me are the Vocoder, the Juno6, and maybe the Emulator II. Now if they had included the SQ80 they might have swayed me.