Vocal Cleaner

Syllables That Shine

However hard you try, capturing a perfect vocal is an almost impossible task. Contending with plosives and pops, crackles and clicks, has driven many a producer to distraction.

The first hurdle is getting your dry vocal track as pristine as possible and fixing all those troublesome little audio imperfections. This is way before you can even think about compression or reverb.

Vocal Cleaner puts your vocals through a rinse cycle, subtly taming harsh sibilance and removing intermittent noise. With simple threshold sliders and Amount dials for easy operation, this should be the first plugin in your vocal effects chain, taking the pain out of that initial stage of vocal processing. So load it into your DAW and get ready to really clean up.

De-Noise

Applying an intelligent algorithm to the incoming audio, this process splits the signal into voice and noise and allows you to strip away the background hum, hiss and other extraneous noise. Experiment with the main fader and the Amount dial to reduce the noise to a manageable level without compromising the vocal quality.

De-Ess

Hissing mouth sounds created by “sss” and “shh” sounds are known as sibilance. These can be exaggerated by some microphones and result in a recording that sounds unbalanced and is difficult to listen to comfortably. The De-Es unit within Vocal Cleaner detects these harsh high frequency sounds and creates an intelligent and adaptable EQ curve, reducing the volume of these unwanted artefacts. 

Noise Gate

Setting a minimum threshold of amplitude, the Noise Gate clamps down on quiet sections of audio whilst letting louder parts through. This is ideal for cutting out breath sounds and room noise. Fine-tune the effect with the Amount dial to maintain a natural sound.

Bright, Natural & Dark

The signal algorithms are optimised for audio with different qualities, so you can click the B/N/D buttons to tailor the processing to your individual needs. Choose either Bright, for high frequency noise, dark for noise in the lower register or Natural for a balanced effect.

High / Low Filter & Presence

Using the high and low pass filter helps to roll-off unwanted hum and upper frequencies, balancing the audio in a comfortable centre-ground. The Presence control restores some of the definition with a combination of saturation, compression and EQ. 

Bright, Natural & Dark (B/N/D)

The signal algorithms are optimised for audio with different qualities, so you can click the B/N/D buttons to tailor the processing to your individual needs. Choose either Bright, for high frequency noise, dark for noise in the lower register or Natural for a balanced effect.

Bypass, Output & Master Mix

The bypass control is smoothed to be as click and pop free as possible for unhindered A/B testing when combined with the Output dial. Choose to mix the cleaned vocal signal with your original raw audio via the central Master Mix ratio control, allowing you to dial down the impact of heavier processing for parallel effects.

Visual Feedback

The live VU meters of the interface show exactly what’s happening to the signal as it travels through each stage of cleaning in real time. This allows for accurate monitoring at every step of the chain.

Presets

With many included presets, it’s easy to find the perfect starting point for almost any type of vocal. With specific presets for female vocals, male vocals, backing vocals and many other options, you can find useful initial settings for most types of voice.

Features

• Easy to use clean up for all sorts of vocals
• 3 processing stages
• De-noise, De-ess & Noise Gate
• Bright, Normal & Dark optimisation modes
• Presence control
• Low and high pass filter
• Pop & click free bypass
• Responsive & CPU friendly
• Factory presets
• Resizable user interface

System Requirements

Mac

• macOS 10.13 and later (64-bit only) 
• VST, AU, AAX

Windows

• Windows 8 or later (32 / 64-bit)
• VST, AAX

Note: The AAX format of this plugin requires Pro Tools 11 or higher.

Important Note for Mac Apple Silicon users: Before purchasing, please review the current compatibility status of this plugin on your system here.