Waves Silk Vocal Smart EQ and Dynamics Processor Plug-In

Waves SLKVCL Overview

Get polished professional-sounding vocal mixes quickly and easily with the Silk Vocal Smart EQ and Dynamics Processor from Waves. Unlike traditional static EQs, Silk Vocal software adjusts to the program material-using innovative technology which scans 2000 frequency bands to detect resonances, so it can decide when and where EQ and compression processing should occur. The intuitve interface makes it easy to quickly fine-tune parameters and get vocals to sit just right in the mix.

A New Approach to Mixing Vocals

• Imagine having up to 2000 analysis bands listening to your vocal in real time and only processing when necessary. The guesswork of mixing is prevented, and your vocal can be trusted to translate across listening devices.
• Silk is like power-steering your way to the finish line of the mix. Intelligently speed past the technicalities, and you'll be less fatigued when you make creative mix decisions.

Low

• This knob tightens the boomy, muddy, and inflated low end that vocals often have due to proximity effect and room issues when recording.
• Using Silk's smart processing for this purpose-rather than a regular or dynamic EQ-will ensure the natural warmth of the vocal stays intact.

Mid

• The midrange is the most critical area in the vocal to get right in mixing. Simply turn the knob for smart processing to take place.
• You'll hear a reduction in harshness and bite without losing the voice's character.
• You can adjust the midrange processing with the assistance of two automatable handles that let you focus the frequency range for much more accurate processing.

High

• Some vocal recordings contain sibilance, which are those distracting s, sh, or t sounds jumping out aggressively. Other times, you're dealing with a smeared and overly resonant treble sound in the superhigh frequencies.
• Toggle between Sibilance and High processing to see which gives you the smoothest and most balanced top end. Tip: Use solo and delta to hear what's being reduced.

Dynamics

• The dynamics section features the most musical single-dial compression possible.
• Once you've tonally balanced your vocals with the smart EQ, a few decibels of compression helps to keep them tight, upfront, and consistent.
• The Link handle applies output gain compensation to the compression, which prevents the addition of unwanted level.

Auto Makeup Gain

• The default setting of the plug-in is with auto-makeup gain on, which means the smart EQ reduction is continuously and adaptively compensated with a level increase.
• You have the option of turning this off and setting your own levels.

Advanced Settings

• HPF is a high-pass filter at 60 Hz, which filters out sub frequencies from the vocal.
• Speed adjusts the envelope of the smart EQ processing. It is a fixed attack-release ratio, and depending on the vocal you may choose faster or slower processing.
• Precision adjusts the sharpness of the Q in each of the processing bands.
• Choose lower values for more surgical processing, and higher values for smoother results.
• Gate can be used in a traditional manner to eliminate unwanted noises between vocal passages.
• Mix knob allows you to blend the entire Silk processing between 0 and 100%.

Silk Vocal Live

• When you purchase Silk Vocal, you also get Silk Vocal Live, a real-time version of the same plug-in. It operates like the original but utilizes minimum phase curves rather than linear phase and thus, it has a much lower latency.
• This means you can record with Silk Vocal Live, monitoring exactly how the plug-in sounds on your voice in real time. Of course, this version also benefits live engineers and is SoundGrid compatible.