Vocal Channel Strip

Getting started

Vocal Channel Strip is installed and activated through Harmovant Audio Hub. You do not download the plugin from the website: the Hub downloads, checks and installs it for you.

1. Go to harmovant.com/downloads, sign in (a free Harmovant account is enough) and download Harmovant Audio Hub for macOS.
2. Open the Hub and sign in with the same account.
3. Find Vocal Channel Strip in the Hub and click Install. macOS asks for your administrator password once. The plugin goes to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components (AU) and /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3.
4. Activate it: use your purchased licence, a Stage Pass subscription, or start the 14-day free trial on this Mac.
5. Open your host (DAW or live host), rescan plugins if needed and insert "Vocal Channel Strip" (listed under Harmovant Audio) on the channel.

The footer of the plugin shows the licence state. If it says DEMO, see the Licence and Troubleshooting sections.

The screen

The window has five areas, from top to bottom and left to right:

• Header: PRESET display with ◀ ▶, A / B / A→B, undo ↶ and redo ↷, IN and OUT LED meters, and the oversampling menu (OS 1x / 2x / 4x).
• CHAIN bar: the seven stages in processing order. Drag to reorder, Alt-click or right-click to bypass. Each slot has a small gain-reduction bar.
• Analyser: spectrum with the FILTER (HPF / LPF) nodes and the 12-band DYNAMIC EQ.
• Module cards: CONSOLE, OPTO (with VU), FET, SATURATE and DE-ESS. Each card has its own on/off switch in the header.
• OUTPUT column: IN / GR / OUT meters, Output, Mix, Width and AUTO GAIN.

The footer shows the latency (LAT … SMP), the sample rate, the version and, when needed, the licence bar.

Double-click any knob to return it to its default value.

Chain order and bypass

Default order: FILTER > CONSOLE > OPTO > FET > SATURATE > DE-ESS > DYN EQ.

• Drag a stage left or right in the CHAIN bar to move it. The change happens during a very short duck (about 20 ms), so there is no click.
• ⟲ DEFAULT ORDER returns to the default order.
• Alt-click or right-click a stage to bypass it (or use the switch on its card). The LED shows on/off. Bypass is a 10 ms crossfade.
• The order is saved with the session, with A/B and with presets.

FILTER (HPF / LPF)

Butterworth high-pass and low-pass filters, edited directly on the analyser: the node marked H is the HPF, the node marked L is the LPF.

On stage, start the HPF around 100-140 Hz on a handheld vocal mic to remove handling noise, stage rumble and proximity build-up.

CONSOLE

A console channel: a subtle input transformer (level-dependent saturation), a 4-band EQ and an optional noise floor. Low and High are shelves; Lo-Mid and Hi-Mid are bells.

OPTO

An optical leveling compressor: smooth, program-dependent, with a two-stage release. The VU on the card shows its gain reduction.

FET

A fast FET compressor/limiter for peaks. You drive the signal into it with Input; the release depends on how much gain reduction there is.

SATURATE

Multiband saturation with three bands (24 dB/oct crossovers), five styles, feedback, tone and mix. The dry part of the mix goes through the same crossover, so a partial mix has no phase problems.

Band graph: drag a vertical crossover line sideways to move it; drag up or down inside a band to set its amount. Equal amounts in all three bands turn the stage into a single wide band (no crossover).

SATURATE is the only stage that uses oversampling (OS menu in the header). OS 1x = 0 latency. OS 2x adds 4 samples, OS 4x adds 6 samples.

DE-ESS

DYN EQ (dynamic EQ)

The DYNAMIC EQ has 12 bands drawn over a spectrum analyser. Each band can be static, dynamic (it moves only when the signal crosses a threshold) or spectral. Every filter is minimum-phase IIR: zero latency in every mode.

• Colours: static bands are champagne, dynamic bands purple, spectral bands orange. The ring around a node shows the dynamic range; its stroke shows the current action.
• Double-click empty space: create a band. Double-click a node: delete it.
• Drag a node: frequency and gain. Hold Shift for fine moves.
• Alt-drag a node: solo the band while you hold the mouse button.
• Cmd-drag a node: set the dynamic range (the band becomes dynamic).
• Mouse wheel over a node: Q. Cmd + wheel: range.
• Right-click a node: band menu (Shape, Slope, Stereo Placement, Dynamic, Spectral, Auto Threshold, External Sidechain, Delete Band).

Clicking a node opens the band panel under it, split into EQ and DYNAMICS:

OUTPUT

Presets

Each factory preset is a complete chain, calibrated so the output comes out near the input level (vocal at about -18 dBFS RMS) with peaks under control. If your vocal arrives much hotter or quieter, adjust the gain at the console first. The plugin opens on Pop Lead - Modern Bright.

• Pop Lead - Modern Bright (Lead): upfront pop vocal; HPF 100 Hz, presence at 3.5 kHz, air at 12 kHz, opto + fast 4:1 FET, light tube.
• R&B Silk (Lead): silky and close; body at 200 Hz, gentle air at 8 kHz, more opto, slow FET, Warm style.
• Rock Grit (Lead): mids at 1.2 kHz, parallel FET ALL (45% mix), driven tape, firm de-esser, 400 Hz cut to clear guitars.
• Rap Upfront (Lead): intelligible and dry; HPF 120 Hz, cut at 250 Hz, presence at 4 kHz, fast 8:1 FET + opto, light clip.
• Ballad Intimate (Lead): close-mic ballad; gentle, musical compression, body kept, delicate air, minimal colour.
• Worship Lead - Live (Live): lead vocal on a PA; HPF 120 Hz against stage bleed, dynamic cuts at 250 and 500 Hz, spectral band at 2.5-4 kHz against harshness. OS 1x, 0 latency.
• Gospel Power (Lead): strong peaks; 8:1 FET holds the belts, dynamic EQ at 1.8 and 3.5 kHz, strong de-esser, warm body.
• Speech - Preacher Live (Live): speech and preaching; HPF 140 Hz, LPF 12 kHz, heavy opto for constant level, FET as limiter, no saturation. OS 1x, 0 latency.
• Backing Vocals - Wide (Backing Vocals): HPF 180 Hz, body cut so they don't fight the lead, heavier compression, air at 10 kHz, width 130%.
• Acoustic Pop - Open & Clean (Lead): natural and open; clean brightness at 5 and 12 kHz, body controlled at 300 Hz, subtle transformer. Good for duets and voice with guitar.

• ◀ ▶ step through the factory presets. Click the preset name to open the menu: factory presets by category (Lead, Live, Backing Vocals), your presets, Save Preset As... and Open Presets Folder.
• Your presets are saved as .hvvc files in ~/Music/Harmovant/Vocal Channel Strip/Presets.
• A preset stores every parameter, the chain order and the oversampling setting. Loading one is click-free (short duck).
• The factory presets are also offered to the host as programs.

Most factory presets use OS 2x (4 samples of latency). The two Live presets use OS 1x (0 latency). Check the OS menu after loading a preset if latency matters on your system.

Live use and latency

• Every filter is minimum-phase IIR. There is no FFT, linear phase or lookahead in the audio path.
• Total latency is 0 samples with OS 1x. The only source of latency is the SATURATE oversampling: 4 samples at 2x, 6 at 4x. The footer shows the current value (LAT … SMP) and the host is told automatically.
• The latency stays the same when SATURATE is bypassed, so the timing does not jump when you switch it.
• No clicks: dynamic EQ moves glide over about 20 ms, stage on/off is a 10 ms crossfade, and reorder, presets and A/B use a short duck (about 5 ms down, 10 ms hold, 5 ms up).
• The filters stay stable under fast automation.

Tips for the stage: start from a Live preset or set OS 1x; set the HPF first; watch the GR meter so the opto and FET together stay at a few dB on normal singing; use the dynamic EQ for harsh notes instead of a static cut; turn LISTEN off on the de-esser before doors open.

A/B, undo and reset

Meters

• Header IN and OUT: LED ladders from -60 to +6 dB (green, amber, red).
• OUTPUT column: IN, GR (total gain reduction of the chain) and OUT meters, with numeric values below.
• CHAIN bar: a thin gain-reduction bar under each stage.
• OPTO card: VU meter of the optical compressor's gain reduction.
• Analyser: live spectrum, plus the action of each dynamic band on its node.

Licence

• One-time purchase: a lifetime licence with lifetime updates. Every new version of the plugin is included, with no renewal.
• A Stage Pass subscription also unlocks Vocal Channel Strip.
• One licence runs on 2 Macs at the same time.
• 14-day free trial per Mac, started in Harmovant Audio Hub.
• Activation and installation are done in Harmovant Audio Hub. The Hub writes the licence file to the Mac and renews it in the background.
• The plugin checks the licence on the Mac, without internet. It keeps working offline for weeks. Before the offline window ends, the footer says "Connect to the internet within N days": open the Hub with internet once.

Without a valid licence the plugin still loads and keeps your settings, but runs in DEMO mode: 2 seconds of silence every 20 seconds, with short fades (never a hard cut). The footer shows an amber or red bar with the state and two buttons: Activate (opens Harmovant Audio Hub, or harmovant.com/downloads if the Hub is not installed) and Buy / Trial (opens the plugin page on harmovant.com). The bar disappears when the licence is OK.

The plugin never cuts the audio in the middle of a show: if a licence ends while audio is running, it keeps playing until a long pause. Only then does it switch to DEMO.

Troubleshooting

Specifications