Melodyne plugin

[JMWS]

Has anyone noticed that this plugin kills the highs of your audio? Makes it unusable for me. Even the Autotune destroys a bit of the top end, but it so little it is acceptable, but this is not the case with Melodyne. Even just running the audio trough it (not making any pitch changes) the audio is "destroyed".

Is there any good alternatives for Melodyne?

[juniorhifikit]

Gregg Wells had stated, and I concure - the Waves Tune plugin sounds the best. Melodyne is cool and does other stuff too. You really need all of them, as they do different things... well... differently.

You're kind of destroying the vocal by f***ing with the pitch anyway, right?tutt

try them all with their demo's and see for yourself.

[Sizzleboy]

Originally Posted by JMWS

Has anyone noticed that this plugin kills the highs of your audio? Makes it unusable for me. Even the Autotune destroys a bit of the top end, but it so little it is acceptable, but this is not the case with Melodyne. Even just running the audio trough it (not making any pitch changes) the audio is "destroyed".

Is there any good alternatives for Melodyne?

Are you saying that simply importing the audio into Melodyne effects the sound? I don't notice this. I actually only import the section of the parts that I need to tune, so a track will be switching in and out of melodyne, and I don't here a change at all. I would check the audio file options in Melodyne and make sure the file atributes are set the same as the original tracks.

[AlexLakis]

Actually, as much as I love this plugin, I noticed something kinda scary a few weeks ago...

I was importing a vocal track into Melodyne Studio and back out when I noticed a drop in the "body" of the voice. That is, I was losing a tiiiiny bit of low end warmth. I tried importing and exporting without any pitch correction (I never pitch correct the entire file anyways same thing!

I'm still kinda scared about it. Might have just been a fluke, I haven't hardcore tested this loss of low-end out yet, but I will. It pissed me off that day, tho, cuz the track needed to be out ASAP and I wasn't about to compromise the tone of the vocalist for some slight pitch correct on two notes in the entire performance.

[jsvalmont]

Amen about Melodyne. I have noticed the audio degradation too, and in a big way. I find it to be completely unusable. I really don't understand all the hype around it.

[Schmacko]

Originally Posted by Sizzleboy

Are you saying that simply importing the audio into Melodyne effects the sound? I don't notice this. I actually only import the section of the parts that I need to tune, so a track will be switching in and out of melodyne, and I don't here a change at all. I would check the audio file options in Melodyne and make sure the file atributes are set the same as the original tracks.

2nd that. Unless you select and manipulate any audio within any Melodyne version, the audio is untouched. Check your preferences within Melodyne to verify that the software is recording the incoming audio as 24bit and @ whatever samplerate your session is running at.

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by Schmacko

2nd that. Unless you select and manipulate any audio within any Melodyne version, the audio is untouched. Check your preferences within Melodyne to verify that the software is recording the incoming audio as 24bit and @ whatever samplerate your session is running at.

This seems like a plausible scenario, being as that I haven't noticed any change in the audio any other time I used it. Then again, I hadn't changed any settings and the session was in my regular samplerate/bitrate...Not enough data to condemn the software on my end yet, more testing must be done to discount my negligence...

[Ollie]

I have not noticed the degradation. I only tune the audio that I need tuned. I do not suck a whole track into the plugin. Which Daw platform are you using it on?

[Sizzleboy]

Originally Posted by Schmacko

2nd that. Unless you select and manipulate any audio within any Melodyne version, the audio is untouched. Check your preferences within Melodyne to verify that the software is recording the incoming audio as 24bit and @ whatever samplerate your session is running at.

Yes. I recall it defaults to 16bits, and does not automatically change with the host project.

[s_sibs]

Are we still talking about the plug-in version? I downloaded the plug-in demo because I'm interested in getting it. I haven't noticed a preference to change the bit rate or that it defaults to 16-bit on import.

In regards to the sound changing with the transferred audio, this is a response from a Celemony support guy on thier forum:

"the facts in question here are due to Melodyne's properties to handle not only pitch changes, but also time changes. If these were only time changes that were defined within Melodyne's editor, it would be able to know if a note had been changed or not. But Melodyne also reacts to realtime time changes from the host, i.e. if you change the playback tempo in your host application in real time, you will hear the audio from the plugin at the correct place.

Thus, as Melodyne does not know if there is a change in time to come, it always has to be prepared and will always be in "processing" state, regardless if you have changed the pitch or timing of some notes or not. With the "melodic" playback algorithm, this processing implies that the signal may be modified a little bit. With the "percussive" playback algorithm this is not the case.

So as soon as you transfer a segment of audio, you should be aware that you don't only visualize that melody segment in the plugin, but you give the control over audio processing to the plugin for that segment. If you want to be sure to avoid any signal modifications in unchanged places, you should delete the blobs in the editor that you don't intend to change or correct in pitch. And if you use the plugin on a track for the only purpose to visualize the melody of that audio track or its notation, you should set the plugin to "bypass" instead of making the plugin render the audio. "

[Schmacko]

Originally Posted by s_sibs

Are we still talking about the plug-in version? I downloaded the plug-in demo because I'm interested in getting it. I haven't noticed a preference to change the bit rate or that it defaults to 16-bit on import.

In regards to the sound changing with the transferred audio, this is a response from a Celemony support guy on thier forum:

"the facts in question here are due to Melodyne's properties to handle not only pitch changes, but also time changes. If these were only time changes that were defined within Melodyne's editor, it would be able to know if a note had been changed or not. But Melodyne also reacts to realtime time changes from the host, i.e. if you change the playback tempo in your host application in real time, you will hear the audio from the plugin at the correct place.

Thus, as Melodyne does not know if there is a change in time to come, it always has to be prepared and will always be in "processing" state, regardless if you have changed the pitch or timing of some notes or not. With the "melodic" playback algorithm, this processing implies that the signal may be modified a little bit. With the "percussive" playback algorithm this is not the case.

So as soon as you transfer a segment of audio, you should be aware that you don't only visualize that melody segment in the plugin, but you give the control over audio processing to the plugin for that segment. If you want to be sure to avoid any signal modifications in unchanged places, you should delete the blobs in the editor that you don't intend to change or correct in pitch. And if you use the plugin on a track for the only purpose to visualize the melody of that audio track or its notation, you should set the plugin to "bypass" instead of making the plugin render the audio. "

That's interesting. I was informed otherwise when I became a customer @ version 2.xx. I'm curious as to if I was misinformed, or if the way Melodyne handles audio in version 3.xx is now different.

Now I'm going to have to go experiment!

[Johnkenn]

I have liked Melodyne better than Autotune...but I've noticed that it can introduce artifacts - little warbles and robotic sounds. It seems to do this with breaths and sounds the vocalist makes before going into the passage. Like it freaks out when it doesn't know what to do with a grunt or something like that. This happens when you bring it into melodyne - even when you don't tune it.

[Dirty Halo]

To those who actualy knw with hands-on experience?

Thanks,

-a

[theoryinmotion]

[QUOTE=Johnkenn;1121685]I have liked Melodyne better than Autotune...[QUOTE]

me too....but I use both, and I would suggest if you need a solution for tuning voice...have more than one option available so that you can use what is best for taht senario.

And with all autotune solutions...less is always more in my book! Only tune what you have to and keep the changes as small as possible for the best sound.

[Johnkenn]

[QUOTE=theoryinmotion;1122155][QUOTE=Johnkenn;1121685]I have liked Melodyne better than Autotune...

me too....but I use both, and I would suggest if you need a solution for tuning voice...have more than one option available so that you can use what is best for taht senario.

And with all autotune solutions...less is always more in my book! Only tune what you have to and keep the changes as small as possible for the best sound.

You're right...I listen to some of the older stuff I did and I used to be alot more heavy handed with the old tuner...kind've embarrassing.

[Sizzleboy]

I did some experimenting after reading this thread and I have come to the conclusion that Melodyne does slightly effect the sound. It is doing something wierd in the high end. Kind of a phase/distortion type of thing. It is barely noticable UNTIL I APPLY EQ TO THE HIGHS....then it sounds really bad. I find that applying EQ and compression and getting the track to sound the way I want it BEFORE hitting Melodyne is acceptable (and what I've been doing anyway). Once the track is "melodyned" it really doesn't take well to eq or compression.

[tamasdragon]

Autotune is much more obvious and wierd. Melodyne is better. But the sound change can easily be your system.

Tamas Dragon

[cl516]

oh my , thank goodness for this thread!!

and all this time i thought it was my own guilty feelings, for simply using any tuning at all in the first place, that made my brain think there was indeed an affect on the sound.

last couple weeks i've been using the plug a lot for a certain project, and i started noticing the slight differences in sound. (similar to the ones described in this thread.)

i didn't have any A/B tests or scientific process, but i did notice something.

I wonder is it just the 'plugin' or melodyne as a whole?

Good advice though on deleting the 'blobs' where you don't need correction.

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by cl516

I wonder is it just the 'plugin' or melodyne as a whole?

For what it's worth, I've been using Melodyne Studio, not the plugin. I don't like the plugin because when you ALT-DRAG a "blob," it doesn't sound the note.