The Punch Vocal Impact Enhancer appears to be a cross between a compressor and exciter, adding a nice sheen to help make a lead vocal pop out of a mix without necessarily raising its volume level or dramatically lowering the instruments in the mix.

Deep "Throat"

Perhaps the most intriguing component is Throat, which can perform transformations both subtle and dramatic to a recorded human voice. So let's look at this one in detail.

As I found it when experimenting with the plug-in, it's important to set the size of the program's Source Throat Precision control to tell it the degree of virtual throat "surgery" you are intending. As Throat's Read Me file recommends:

If you are intending only very subtle changes, you would typically start with this control set to "subtle" while if you were intending major changes, "extreme" might be more appropriate.

Not setting this can result in a disappointing, sort of gauzy sounding effect instead of a really effective transformation.

While the obvious use of Throat is to make someone with a high voice sound like James Earl Jones (and vice-versa), it has far more subtle uses as well. Many commercial recordings add a unique sheen to a lead vocal by having the vocalist record a whisper track, which is then mixed subliminally in the background. They also frequently rerecord the same vocalist, or have a backup vocalist double the part an octave lower, which is also then mixed low in the background. Combined, both tricks can do much to strengthen an otherwise thin-sounding voice. (Err, like mine...)

Throat allows whisper and octave-lower tracks to be generated quickly and easily from an existing vocal. So if the lead singer has already gone home, just clone his or her voice to new tracks, and then process these tracks via Throat to create instant ear-candy.

Perhaps the nearest competitor to Throat is TC-Helicon's VoiceModeler software, which is also capable of some fine sounds. (Like Throat, it can make me sound like Orson Welles, Sammy Davis Jr., or Mickey Mouse, depending upon the effect I dial up.) But VoiceModeler runs on TC's PowerCore module, which requires a separate hardware-based component for the PC, attached externally via a FireWire cable, or installed internally as a computer card. The cost for the VoiceModeler software and a PowerCore can combine to easily run over $1000. And while PowerCore can run a variety of applications beyond VoiceModeler, similar versions of many of those applications, can now be found as internally driven plug-ins requiring no additional hardware. (Such as Antares' Throat.)

First impressions? AVOX is a comprehensive and easy to use suite of products that allows anyone with a PC-recording studio to fine tune a recording's vocals. And it's a handy suite for someone producing demos for his garage or basement band, a video soundtrack, or a commercial jingle--all the way up to the professional producer who installs it on his Pro Tools rig--right alongside the original Antares Auto-Tune.