Antares Vocal Producer???

8

89gtsleeper

New member
http://www.antarestech.com/products/avp.shtml

I do not have a computer in my studio, and do not want one in there. I use a Tascam 2488 mkII for my recording. I am ready to start buying equipment for recording better vocals, since this is where my equipment is lacking the most. I'm looking for a rackmount unit that has the following:

auto-tune
hi-pass and low-pass filters
De-esser
Something along the lines of mic simulators, to get mroe varied sounds out of a limited mic selection I currently have

Do you think this unit is my best bet for 400 bucks? Is there something that might work better. I would like to not spend more than 400 for now if possible.
 
The rack mount 'auto-tune' units all sound like crap. Vocal tuning is done by editing the individual notes that need tweaking, not by running a vocal line through an automatic pitch corrector.

I think any one of the things you want (excepth the filters) would cost about $400 by itself.
 
I have one and it gets marginal use. The autotune and de-esser features are OK. I don't use the mic modeler because I have a decent mic collection, but I wasn't that impressed by it when I tried it. Same with the EQ and compressor. Almost any dedicated unit would be better (for a low cost unit I'd take an RNC or a DBX 242 any day). If you really need hardware autotune, I suppose this is your main option, but I wouldn't buy it for the other features. I'd also buy used rather that spend the bucks for a new unit (I did).
 
Well, I just bought a new compressor that I'm happy with, so I don't plan to use that at all on the Antares. The main thing I want it for is the autotune, and the lo/hi pass filters.

And what you mentioned about using the autotune only on sore spots that need it. That's what I plan to do. Basically, record the initial vocal track straight through, no auto-tune. Then run that signal playback through the autotune as a separate track... then do some comping to snag bits and pieces from each track. I know it will take some experimenting, but it is worth it to me if I can make a unit for this price do the job.

Honestly, I can wait and get something like this but more expensive later down the road, but I am not aware of even 1 other unit from any company that is a rack mounted auto-tune. Any one know of any others? Thanks.
 
AFAIK its the only only rack mount unit out (although I haven't looked in a while). The other products, like Melodyne, are software.
 
The problem with a hardware auto-tuner is that you don't have the control you do with the computer based one. With the computer based one, you can 'draw the curve' and/or warp and nudge the original performance into something that is more in key but still natural sounding. With the hardware, it will always be attempting to make the performance a straight, dead on note. Too little and it isn't in key, too much and it sounds like that Cher tune.

I've used both, the hardware version sucks.
 
89gtsleeper said:
Honestly, I can wait and get something like this but more expensive later down the road, but I am not aware of even 1 other unit from any company that is a rack mounted auto-tune. Any one know of any others? Thanks.
Click to expand...
TC Electronics makes a whole line of vocal processors with pitch correction.
 
MOFO Pro said:
TC Electronics makes a whole line of vocal processors with pitch correction.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I sang through a voice prism or something like that once.....it was kinda cool. TC makes great hardware, has for a long time . I really don't know anything about Anteres' success at hardware. They are a software company, and making good hardware is a whole different ballgame.

89, I think your comping approach might work, though I'd suggest you make sure you buy with a good return policy in case your not happy with the results. Even if the pitch correction works nicely, the tonality between the original and corrected track may not match up well.
 
Robert D said:
...I'd suggest you make sure you buy with a good return policy in case your not happy with the results. Even if the pitch correction works nicely, the tonality between the original and corrected track may not match up well.
Click to expand...

Definitely, everything I buy has warranty and or good return policy, and only new unless it is a product no longer in production.

As for the comping, that's what I was wondering. I think it will work, but like you said I just don't know if there will be a smooth transition if the tone gets changed too much.
 
Yeah, I see TC Electronics now has something called an Intonator. Looks much more interesting (and useful) than the Antares unit. They generally make pretty good gear, so I expect that it would be worth looking into.
 
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