ANTHEM STUDIO SUITE · PLUGIN
VOCAL
The complete modern vocal chain in one plugin. Pitch correction, doubling, three-stage compression, parallel saturation, dual de-essing, air, mono-safe width, three reverb buses and a throw-ready delay — driven by five macro knobs.
Built for how records are made in 2026
Clean-but-loud vocals, huge stereo image that folds down to mono, radio-tight dynamics and festival-sized space — without ten plugins, three buses and an afternoon of routing. Drop it on the vocal. Turn VOCAL ENERGY up. That's a finished pop vocal — everything else is taste.
STUDIO-GRADE PITCH ENGINE
YIN detection ~187×/second with sub-cent precision. From invisible correction to full hard-tune. Formant Preserve keeps the singer sounding like themselves — no chipmunks. Key & scale aware.
HUMAN DOUBLER
2–4 generated voices with micro-delays, mirrored ± detune and slow randomized drift — a singer stacking takes, not a chorus pedal from 1984. The lead never loses level.
THREE-PART COMPRESSION
An LA-2A-style optical leveler with program-dependent release, a 1176-style FET peak stage, and a pre-routed New York parallel bus. Auto-makeup everywhere — the knobs change density, not loudness.
MONO-SAFE WIDTH — BY MATH
All widening lives in the Side channel of an M/S matrix, Haas included. Fold to mono and it cancels cleanly instead of comb-filtering. Bass is always mono. Guaranteed by construction, not by a limiter.
OVERSAMPLED SATURATION
Tape, Tube or Soft Clip at 2x/4x/8x oversampling, anti-aliased, loudness-compensated, blended in parallel with a sample-exact latency-matched dry path.
DUAL-STAGE DE-ESSER
A surgical dynamic notch plus a broadband dynamic shelf with self-calibrating detection — whisper or scream, it adapts. Stereo-linked: zero image shift.
SPACE THAT BREATHES
Room / Plate / Hall buses with pre-delay and pre-filtered inputs. Slap or ping-pong delay with tempo sync, tape-style repeats and a one-knob automatable THROW.
FULLY DELAY COMPENSATED
Every internal parallel path is sample-aligned, latency reported to the host and constant across every bypass toggle. ~10 ms total. No phase smear, no PDC jumps, ever.
ZIPPER-FREE EVERYTHING
All 51 parameters automatable and smoothed. No clicks on any knob, switch or bypass. Zero allocation on the audio thread. Built for tracking, not just mixing.
Five knobs. A weighted matrix underneath.
The macros never touch the audio directly — each one drives a tuned matrix of parameters, so every position of every knob sounds like a deliberate production decision.
VOCAL ENERGY
The "make it a record" knob. Low = intimate. High = dense, loud, on top of a full drop.
→ both comps · parallel · saturation · airWIDTH
0 = dead mono. 50 = natural. 100 = ultra-wide festival chorus. Bass stays mono no matter what.
→ M/S width · doubler · HaasAIR
The expensive-mic top end: a high shelf plus a harmonic exciter that synthesizes new sheen.
→ air shelf · HF exciterTIGHTNESS
Control and clarity. High = dry, modern rap/pop. Also pushes the ducking deeper.
→ FET · de-esser · sends back · duck depthSPACE
One knob for "where does this vocal live" — both sends in one move, weighted by TIGHTNESS.
→ reverb send · delay sendLead Priority Ducking
The classic problem: you stack doubles, delay and reverb until the chorus is huge — and the lead turns muddy. The fix on every major record is sidechain-ducked effects. VOCAL builds it in, fully automatic.
The voice sings → the effects get out of the way. The phrase ends → the space blooms back.
| CONTROL | RANGE | WHAT IT DOES |
|---|---|---|
| Duck (power) | on / off | Master enable for the whole system |
| Amount | 0–100% | Maximum duck depth — up to −15 dB, deeper with high TIGHTNESS |
| Release | 50–800 ms | How fast the effects bloom back after each phrase |
| Doubler | 0–100% | Per-module amount (default 35% — doubles usually should sing along) |
| Delay | 0–100% | Per-module amount (default 100% — echoes live between phrases) |
| Reverb | 0–100% | Per-module amount (default 100% — the tail blooms in the gaps) |
Duck all of them or each individually — set a module to 0% to exempt it, or run everything at 100% with a fast release for the ultra-dry-verse-yet-spacious-gaps sound on modern pop records.
The engine
Nine independent DSP modules in a fixed, fight-tested order. Every audible parameter smoothed, every parallel path sample-aligned, total latency ~10 ms reported once to the host.
Preset recipes
Dial-in sheets for the sounds you hear on records. Macros first — they do most of the work. Advanced tweaks listed only where they differ from the defaults.
① BILLBOARD POP LEAD
the default that wins — clean, bright, expensiveAdvanced: Retune 35 ms Natural, Key/Scale set · Reverb Plate, Pre-Delay 40 ms · Delay Ping-Pong 1/4, low mix · Duck defaults.
② FESTIVAL EDM DROP
massive — mono-check it and smileAdvanced: Reverb Hall, Decay 70, Pre-Delay 60 ms · Delay Ping-Pong 1/4 dotted, FB 45 · Doubler 4 voices, Mix 70 · Saturation Soft Clip, Drive 50, OS 8x · Duck 70% / Release 400 ms — space that blooms between the words.
③ MODERN RAP / TRAP
up-front, controlled, zero mudAdvanced: Retune 0 ms Robotic (Natural 25 ms for melodic) · Reverb Room, low mix · Delay Slap 110 ms free, Throw on ad-libs · Low Cut 100 Hz · Duck 80% / Release 120 ms — bone dry ON the voice.
④ INTIMATE BALLAD
dynamic, warm, humanAdvanced: Retune 120 ms, Amount 80, Formant ON · Reverb Plate, Pre-Delay 25 ms · Saturation Tape, Drive 25 · Doubler off (or 2 voices, Mix 20) · Duck 35% / Release 500 ms — the tail hugs the phrases.
⑤ HYPERPOP / FULL ROBOT
the autotune IS the instrumentAdvanced: Retune 0, Robotic, Formant OFF (the artifact is the sound), Amount 100 · Saturation Tube, Drive 65 · Doubler 4 voices, Detune 18, Mix 80.
⑥ BGV / STACK BUS
wide bed, carved out of the lead's wayAdvanced: Low Cut 140 Hz · Mono Below 250 Hz · De-Ess 65 (stacked S's add up!) · Duck OFF or very low — stacks should duck under the lead, not under themselves.
⑦ VINTAGE SLAP
instant retro, still modern-loudAdvanced: Delay Slap, Sync off, 120 ms, FB 15, Mix 35 · Saturation Tape, Drive 45 · Reverb Room · Pitch Amount 60, Retune 100 ms · Duck Delay 50% — the slap stays glued to the voice.
Every setting, explained
Hit ADVANCED in the plugin's top bar to open the engine room. Each section has a power LED.
PITCH — modern tuning engine
| CONTROL | RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Retune Speed | 0–200 ms | 0 = instant hard-tune · 20–60 = modern pop · 100+ = transparent |
| Amount | 0–100% | Blend between untouched and fully corrected |
| Mode | Natural / Robotic | Robotic forces an instant snap regardless of Retune |
| Formant | on / off | Preserves the singer's character. Off = the classic artifact |
| Key / Scale | Chromatic, C–B · Maj/Min | Set the song key for note-perfect snapping |
DOUBLER — the wide vocal stack
| CONTROL | RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Voices | 2–4 | 2 = classic L/R double · 4 = full stack |
| Detune | 0–24 ct | Symmetric ± spread — the center never drifts |
| Mix | 0–100% | Doubles layered onto the dry — the lead keeps its level |
| Spread | 0–100% | Pan width of the stack |
| Drift | 0–100% | Humanization — kills the chorus-pedal artifact |
DYNAMICS — three-part compression + de-esser
| CONTROL | RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Level | 0–100% | LA-2A-style leveler — makes every word the same size |
| Peak | 0–100% | 1176-style FET, 0.25 ms attack, ratio 4:1→8:1 |
| Parallel | 0–100% | NY parallel bus — density without killing transients |
| De-Ess Freq | 3–12 kHz | Where the S lives — sweep until the GR meter ticks on esses only |
| De-Ess Amount | 0–100% | Drives both stages: surgical notch + dynamic shelf |
SATURATION — parallel color, oversampled
| CONTROL | RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tape / Tube / Soft Clip | Tape = compressed top · Tube = even-harmonic warmth · Clip = clean loudness |
| Drive | 0–100% | 0 to +24 dB in, loudness-compensated out |
| Mix | 0–100% | Parallel blend — latency-matched, can never comb |
| OS | 2x / 4x / 8x | Higher = cleaner top end at heavy drive |
AIR & EQ + STEREO
| CONTROL | RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Air Freq | 6–16 kHz | 10–12 kHz = silk · 14+ = sheen |
| Low Cut | 20–300 Hz | 80–100 Hz leads · 120–150 Hz stacks |
| Haas | 0–100% | Side-channel decorrelation — wider without phasing |
| Mono Below | 60–500 Hz | Below this the vocal is always dead mono |
SPACE — reverb + delay
| CONTROL | RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Reverb Type | Room / Plate / Hall | Room = verses, rap · Plate = pop glue · Hall = EDM drop |
| Pre-Delay | 0–100 ms | 30–60 ms = lyric clarity even with big sends |
| Decay | 0–100% | Morphs each algorithm around its sweet spot |
| Delay Mode | Slap / Ping Pong | Slap = one mono echo · Ping Pong = alternating stereo |
| Sync / Div | 1/32 – 1/2 (+dotted) | Lock to the host tempo, or run 20–1000 ms free |
| FB | 0–90% | Tape-soft-clipped, filtered repeats — they decay musically |
| THROW | 0–100% | Automate it — +6 dB wet + extra feedback on one word |
DUCK — lead priority
Master Amount + Release, then per-module amounts for Doubler / Delay / Reverb. See the Ducking section above for the full story. TIGHTNESS deepens it automatically.
Tips & tricks
Automate the macros — that's why they exist
Verse: WIDTH 20 / SPACE 25 / TIGHT 60. Chorus: WIDTH 80 / SPACE 55 / TIGHT 40. Two automation lanes and the vocal explodes from intimate to stadium in one bar.
The delay throw
Automate THROW to 100% on the last word of a phrase, back to 0 before the next one. The word echoes across the gap — ducked, so it never collides with the next line.
The duck IS the clarity
If a busy mix swallows your vocal, don't add more level — raise Duck Amount and TIGHTNESS first. The voice comes forward because everything else politely steps back.
Hard-tune vs invisible tune
Hook: Retune 0, Robotic, Key+Scale set, Amount 100, then AIR up. Verse: Retune 80–120 ms, Natural, Formant ON, Amount 85 — nobody will know it's there.
Read the meters
COMP GR dancing 3–8 dB = the zone (pinned past 10 = back off ENERGY). DE-ESS ticking only on S's = correct. OUT touching amber on peaks = healthy into a limiter.
Press the mono button. Smile.
VOCAL's entire width architecture lives in the Side channel — it folds down clean by mathematics, not by luck. That's the point.
One instance per vocal role
Lead gets ducking ON; doubles/BGV bus gets ducking OFF with Low Cut 140 Hz and more de-essing. Ad-libs love Slap + Throw.