NUSofting Dig Vox is a new, unique vocal Synthesizer plugin powered by a physical modeling and formant synthesis engine.
Virtual analog, FM, or wavetable synthesis are common forms often found in soft synths. Formant synthesis, for example, is somewhat rare. It lets you create vocal sounds from pure synthesis. PPG Phonem by Wolfgang Palm, unfortunately no longer available, pushed this to a very high level.
NUSofting, an Italian indie developer who regularly releases very original tools, shows his own take on a vocal synthesizer with the new Dig Vox plugin.
NUSofting Dig Vox
Dig Vox is a new Synthesizer plugin for macOS and Windows designed to create all kinds of synthesized vocal sounds. NUSofting says that it’s a synth to explore the fascinating space where human vocals meet pure synthesis.
Sonically, don’t expect the same level of vocal authenticity as from large sample libraries for Kontakt. The developer describes it as a modern spiritual successor to legendary hardware like the Yamaha FS1R and other dedicated vocal synthesis units.
The core is based on a hybrid structure. The built-in glottis, aka vocal cords (voice-producing apparatus in the larynx), model uses formant synthesis and acts as the primary “vocal folds” oscillator for authentic source generation.
You can modify it with various settings like tightness, vibrato, a second oscillator option, and pitch options. The second part of Dig Vox simulates a vocal tract using physical modeling synthesis. This simulation includes the throat, mouth, and tongue.
You can use an XY pad to morph through different mouth shapes. The upper section houses up to four band-pass filters with frequency, resonance, and bright parameters. It gives you various classic, warm, analog-style subtractive and resonant formant modeling effects (ao, ae, ou, ue).
Voice Shaping
Also on the right is a breath noise generator that adds realistic turbulence, air, and whisper characteristics to the sounds. You can choose between blue, white, and pink flavors.
On the modulation side, it features two ADSR envelopes with velocity and four LFOs that can be assigned to different parameters. They are not very flexible; you only have a few options. Additionally, you have polyphonic glide and an independent audio-bend per voice.
To refine your sounds, it features two distinct FX modules. Number one is a 4-voice multiplier/reflection engine for instant stereo width and space. The second offers a flexible delay, chorus, and reverb with shimmer.
NUSofting ships the Dig Vox with a small but excellent selection of factory presets, giving you a good first impression of its capabilities.
First Impression
I downloaded the demo version to get a better idea of the synth. At first glance, it’s a lovely, unique vocal synth that can reproduce all the classics, as well as more unusual vocal sounds.
Unfortunately, it won’t perfectly replace the PPG Phonem (thanks, it still works on my iOS) that I miss a lot; the plugin lacks that much depth. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting release that offers different sound flavors than the usual VAs, FMs, etc.
NUSofting Dig Vox is available now for 45€. It runs as a VST, VST3, and AU plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows. A free demo is available.
More information here: NUSofting
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