VOCAL LABS

Overview

VOCAL LABS is a modular vocal channel strip built around two independent five-module racks and a shared output stage, rather than one fixed signal chain. Gate, EQ, De-Ess, Comp, Warmth, Bitcrusher, Reverb and Delay are available as separate modules — drag only the ones a given vocal needs into either rack, in whatever order the chain calls for, instead of managing eight separate plugin instances.

Gate is a stereo-linked downward expander with its own sidechain key filters. EQ covers five bands — HP, Low Shelf, two sweepable Bells and High Shelf — sized for channel-strip work rather than corrective surgery. De-Ess drives its detector from a band-passed copy of the input, so reduction stays confined to the sibilant range instead of ducking the whole signal. Comp is a single feed-forward VCA circuit with a split waveform display. Warmth applies symmetric tanh saturation blended by amount, and Bitcrusher — the one module built to make a vocal sound worse on purpose — combines bit-depth crush, sample-and-hold downsampling and a narrowing band-pass for lo-fi character presets.

Reverb runs true stereo convolution from 19 curated impulse responses across Plate, Chamber, Room, Hall, Ambience and Space categories, rather than an algorithmic model. Delay runs tempo-synced or free-running, with tap tempo, ping-pong cross-feed and a damped feedback path that darkens with every repeat. A final Main Output stage — vintage VU meter and trim gain — sits after both racks, ahead of the host's own fader.

Twenty genre-built factory presets configure a complete chain, not just one module, and the whole rack — every module, every setting — saves and recalls as a single user preset. VOCAL LABS also runs as a standalone application, independent of a DAW, for processing a vocal chain live through an audio interface rather than only inside a session.